


Earth Angel

by deilen_gwyrdd



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Angel Castiel, Angel True Forms, Angel Wings, Archangel Gabriel (Supernatural), Baker Gabriel, Chaptered, Character Death, Croatoans, Fights, Fireman Dean Winchester, M/M, Mute Castiel, Paramedic Sam Winchester, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 19:36:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1995300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deilen_gwyrdd/pseuds/deilen_gwyrdd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Sam Winchester lived normal lives in a small town named Helwr Village, Kansas. Life at home went on as usual, that is until they meet Gabriel the baker and his younger brother Castiel, who may have a secret that could change everything. There's that, and the Devil himself walking the earth and starting the apocalypse.</p><p>ON HIATUS! Sorry but I'm so busy lately I don't have time! :/ will continue in the future!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Falling

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Just a few things you need to know about this fic:
> 
> \- I WON'T BE UPDATING REGULARLY! I'm really sorry about that.. I will try and update as much as I can, but I'm moving country for a year and it'll be hard to write!  
> \- Angels don't take vessels, they look like humans but with wings and halos when their in their true form! (will be clearer in the story)  
> \- Will contain character death! sorry :(  
> \- Lucifer can come out of hell whenever he likes (cos you know, he's Satan and all that)  
> \- Angels can get injured, and they take a long while to heal if they're hurt by angel blades! They can sleep to gain energy but don't eat unless they feel like it :)  
> \- And 'Helwr' is Welsh for hunter.. I thought I'd add a bit of my Welshness to the story ;)
> 
> Oh and I suck at summaries, so apologies! :D
> 
> If there's anything else I will add later on! Enjoy :)

Waking up that morning to a stormy sky, lightning striking the earth and rain battering the windows, Gabriel didn't expect to see something big and flaming fall from the sky and heading straight towards the earth. He'd suddenly noticed the sky was blanketed in strange black clouds as soon as he’d stepped out of bed, darkening the atmosphere, as though night time hadn't passed although the clock read eight thirty am. Then, out of nowhere, that flaming object crashed to the ground with a loud rumble, flames dancing in the wind before they gave in and extinguished in the pouring rain. 

It had landed in the field behind his house, so close that Gabriel could practically smell the smoke rising into the air and slithering under the crack of the back door. He was quick to react in that instance, his bare feet carrying him outside into the heavy rainfall that immediately soaked him right through. His mind was telling him that it was just some ridiculous thing he'd imagined, or that it was some odd dream that he’d conjured up, but his heart told him he knew exactly what the falling flames were.

As Gabriel got closer to the stranded object his breathing became unsteady, he got down on his knees as he neared, and slid down into the deep pit that it had made as it had struck the ground. The man was covered in mud from his hands and knees before he even got to the mysterious thing, his body shivering from the belting of rain on his exposed skin.

Gabriel gasped in shock and dread as he finally reached what had fallen on the field. His worst fears were made into reality, all hope lost in that mere second as he looked down. A dark haired man lay there in the thick, clammy mud, deep cuts decorating his pale white flesh from head to toe, blood trailing from a wide gash at the top of his head. He wore pure white clothing underneath all the muddied stains, the material sticking to his body like a second skin as it drenched through with the rain and dirt. 

Gabriel reached a shaking hand towards the man's head, stroking away his fringe that had fallen against his injured forehead. "Oh, my dear little brother." Gabriel whispered against the sound of the gasping wind, only he himself having heard his own voice. "You fool. What have they done to you?"

The only movement that came from the unconscious man was that of his barely rising and falling chest, and his frantically twitching eyes behind closed eyelids, possibly dreaming or most likely a nightmare. Gabriel sighed deeply, moving forward to place a hand across his brother's heart before turning him onto his back. It was a struggle to move the sleeping man by himself, for protruding out of his back were enormous wings covered in blackened feathers.


	2. Angelic Taste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "And who on this unholy earth are you, handsome?"

'It was the heat of the moment, Telling me what my heart meant, The heat of the moment showed in your eyes…'

Sam groaned into his pillow, covering his ears with his hands in desperate attempt to get that song far away from his eardrums. He was not in the mood. Not in the mood in the damn slightest. He wanted to stay snuggled into his blanket with the curtains closed, and stay put in his own little dream bubble where no one could disturb him, not even the smell of bacon and eggs coming from downstairs that was making his stomach turn. 

Who the hell wanted to work on a weekend? He sure as hell didn't. The only thing that got him up in the end was the constant repeat of 'heat of the moment' coming from his mobile phone, reminding him that he should be up and showering and chucking on his uniform. The chorus of the song played for at least another three times before Sam fumbled for his phone at last, switching off the alarm and stumbling out of bed less graceful than a two year old.  
Another bash to the knee on the corner of his desk, a slight tumble over his bin that sent half its contents flying over the floor, and at least three bumps to the head later Sam had finally made his way to the bathroom to get himself sorted. It didn’t take him long to realise he’d forgotten to grab his uniform on the way out of his room, making him curse silently before dragging his feet back to where he’d started. 

Twenty minutes later he was looking at least half decent for work, having thrown on his paramedic uniform in a rush then noticing that he'd taken five minutes extra in the shower than he normally would, which he blamed entirely on the fact that he’d forgotten to grab his clothes the first time around. But once he strolled into the kitchen, thoughts of being late were the last thing on his mind as his eyes landed on the mug of coffee waiting for him on the table.

"Sammy! Finally up I see, lazy ass."

Dean, Sam’s older brother, was sitting down with a plate full of bacon and toast, practically stuffing the food down his throat.

"Bite me." Sam retorted, punching his brother lightly on the arm. "Slow down Dean, you're going to get a heart attack eating all that stuff."

Dean rolled his eyes from the kitchen table, shoving a huge piece of bacon into his mouth before dropping a blob of tomato sauce on his fireman shirt. "Oh, shit!" he cursed.

Sam chuckled amused. "Karma."

"Karma my ass!" Dean snorted, rubbing the small stain with a tea towel that sat on the table, before throwing it across the room and into the laundry basket. "So worth it." He said as he stuffed more bacon into his mouth.

"I thought you were working early this morning?" Sam said, taking a long sip of his black coffee.

Dean looked at his brother as if he'd grown two heads. "Dude, it's eight o'clock." He said as he jabbed a thumb in the direction of the clock. "This is freaking early."

"Whatever you say Dean." Sam chuckled. “Well, at least I get a lift.”

It took another ten minutes of Sam chugging down some more coffee, and a further fifteen for Dean with his full sized breakfast for them to leave the house and be on their way to work. Sam worked at the local hospital as a paramedic, having only been there for a year it felt like more, but he loved his job and didn’t have a bad thing to say about it. Dean on the other hand hated getting up early for his but enjoyed it none the less, he was a fireman which had been his goal since he was a kid, saving lives, putting out gigantic fires, rescuing cats from big trees, it wasn’t so bad.

Dean would always drive Sam to the small hospital first if they were working the same hours, the fire station situated only a few miles down the road, he’d have ACDC blaring from the speakers of his Impala while Sam desperately tried not to reach for the volume to turn it down. He hated Dean's taste in music; he had no idea where he got it from.  
Today wasn’t all that different, ‘Highway to Hell’ blared through the car as Dean sped down the main road, singing along just as noisily in his not so restrained singing voice. Sam just grabbed a hold of his coat and tried to drown out the racket by plastering it to his ears, making a point to sigh loudly so Dean got the idea that he really wasn’t a good a singer as the rock singers in his favourite band. 

When Dean pulled up to the hospital he did a not so subtle swerve, the tires screeching on the tarmac and sending the car into a small spin. Sam yelled in surprise and sent his coat flying into his lap, cursing Dean in as many different languages as he knew before the car came to a halt by the back entrance of the building.

"Woo!" Dean laughed in high spirits. "Bet that woke you up, huh Sammy?"

Sam took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Don't ever do that again."

"Spoilsport." Dean grinned amusedly; he was totally doing that again. "Now get your butt into that hospital, lives depend on you!"

"They also depend on you." Sam said, stepping out of the car. "I'd hurry if I were you. You know how Bobby gets when you're late." Sam couldn’t help but smirk when he saw the look of confusion on Dean’s face.

Dean was about to retort with a clever, yet not so clever answer when he noticed the time on the dash, the bright red numbers flashing in his face. It was nearing nine o'clock, the time he was meant to get to the fire station, which meant he was going to have to step on it if he wanted to get on Bobby’s good side. Dean swore under his breath, he'd been late at least three times in that month and Bobby wasn't likely to be easy on him even though he'd known him since he was born. Bobby was gonna be pissed if he was even late by two minutes. 

Sam laughed to himself as Dean practically flew out of the parking lot, tires close enough to going up in smoke as they grounded against the hard floor. The youngest brother took one last glance at the retrieving impala before walking into Helwr Hospital, ready for another day of saving peoples’ lives.

\-----

"Someone's late... Again."

Dean strolled through the hallway of the small fire department, walking past the locker rooms and changing rooms until he came to the resting area, the rest of the firemen crowd already sitting in their usual seats around the kitchen quarter and television. 

"Nice to see you too, Benny." Dean said to the tall man following him inside.

"What happened this time?" Benny asked sticking the kettle on to make them both some coffee. "Washing machine blew up? Dog chased you down the street? Did Sam hide your car keys?"

Dean chuckled pushing himself up onto the worktop to sit. "None of the above I'll have you know."

Benny snorted. "Of course not, you just forgot to set your alarm."

"Yeah," Dean lied, big grin intact. "That's exactly what happened." Which really wasn’t, Dean had set his alarm five minutes earlier than usual that morning.

"Bobby's not happy, Dean."

Dean turned to the new arrival in the room, jumping off the counter in case he got a spanking for putting his butt on surfaces which weren't meant for people’s butts, as Rufus had once put it.

"Hey Rufus." Dean greeted the older man. Rufus was a good old friend of Bobby’s and the best fireman he had in the team, experienced in more fires than Bobby himself. 

"Morning, knucklehead." Rufus took a seat at the small table nearby, folding his arms across his chest. "So, you going to go in and see him, or let him brew?" Rufus asked with a hint of a smirk on his lips. 

Dean sighed. "I’ll go to his lair, since you’re probably going to drag me in there anyway."

"There's a good lad." Rufus grinned in triumph, laughing with Benny as Dean walked defeated towards Bobby’s office.

"Where the hell you been, boy?"

Bobby wasn't happy, Dean could tell. He was already nervous from the slight warning from his friend Tom who walked by two seconds ago, drawing his finger across his throat motioning to Dean that either Bobby had cut his throat open or he was about to do it to Dean. The first one would have been better.

"You're goddamn late again Dean! How many times do I have to tell ya?"

Dean put on the most charming smile he could come up with. "Oh, come on Uncle Bobby!"

"Don't you Uncle Bobby me!" Bobby picked up a load of papers off his desk, whacking Dean across the head quite hard. "That look don't work on me!"

"Ouch." Dean groaned, that really did hurt. "Blame Sam, I had to take him to work!"

Bobby snorted. "You just about always take Sam to work, you idjit!"

"Uh..." Yeah, Dean was running out of answers for this one. "My alarm didn't go off?" He shrugged; it was a better lie than the last one. 

"Listen here Dean," Bobby began, taking a seat behind his messy desk and rubbing at his temples in frustration. "You may be my best friend’s son and all, and I promised to look after you, but you gotta start shaping up, you hear? I didn't let you have this job to be late and fall asleep every hour!"

Dean was about to protest that that wasn't even possible; they had more rescues than breaks during the day. But before he could get a word in, Bobby was continuing. 

"You've been like a son to me ever since you were a young boy, Dean." Bobby grunted. "I've tried my best to get you were you wanted to be, I got you through collage, I helped you learn about cars, and even let you have that boy stay over when you were sixteen and didn't even say a word when I heard you having your way with him on my god damn sofa!"

Dean gawped. "You heard that?"

"The whole damn town did!"

Dean flushed slightly red at the new fact he'd learnt. He wondered if he was ever still that loud back home and thought of buying Sam some earmuffs for Christmas just encase.

"Now," Bobby cut Dean out if his thoughts. "I've always been there for you Dean, and I just want to know, are you ever going to start being serious about life or is it still a bit of a party in that head of yours?"

And there it was, that look that Bobby made every time he wanted Dean to feel like the biggest dick in the world of the biggest dicks. It was the look that said, 'I bring you into my home, I raise you, and this is how you repay me?' Dean hated that look.

"Bobby," Dean sighed running a hand through his ruffled hair. "I'm sorry, okay? I know I can be a dick sometimes..."

"Oh, really?" Bobby faked an astonished gaze, his voice rising in pitch. "I never noticed."

Dean rolled his eyes, taking a seat opposite his adopted father, giving him the serious stare. He meant business. "Uncle Bobby, I'll try to stop being a dick from now on, I promise. You know I'm grateful for everything you've done for me and Sam, we love you like a dad. I'll start buckling down, I swear. I really don't mean to make you feel like you’re not appreciated because you are, you're awesome, and you mean the world to me. I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for you and...you know, I'm gonna stop now because I feel like I'm in one of those scenes from a chick flick where they just let out all their emotional feelings and start crying, and I can slowly feel my masculinity disappearing."

Bobby chuckled lightly, typical; Dean never was one for letting his emotions be shown to the world.

"I'll even stop eating so much pie during the day." Dean said, pain evident in his face. "God, that's going to be hard." 

"Huh. That's a good start" Bobby smirked, maybe he was getting through to the young fire-fighter at last. "Now get your ass out of my office, and get your gear ready, your lockers a mess. Who knows when a call will come in."

Dean grinned, standing with a jump in his step. With a salute and a wink Dean left the office, making sure to pick up the latest issue of '1960's Autos' on the way out. Bobby just rolled his eyes, kicking back in his chair. Dean was getting way too much like his father.

\----------

When Sam walked into the back entrance to the hospital, he wasn't exactly expecting to be swarmed by his friend and work partner, who was currently jumping up and down like a dog excited to be let out for a walk. It took Sam seconds before he had to take a hold of the skinny man’s shoulders and stop him in his tracks.

"Garth, is there a reason you’re jumping around like you’re on a sugar high?"

"Nope." Garth grinned. "But, Chuck has just told me about an awesome new candy shop that has much more than candy. Can we go? Can we?"

Sam chuckled, leading Garth into the locker room. "I'm sure we can take a look on our break."

"Yes!" Garth pumped his fist in the air, he was totally buying cake.

Garth was a few years older than Sam and had been in the ambulance service a few months longer, they’d been partners in the business since Sam had started at the hospital, he’d taught Sam everything he knew and gave him the longest tour of the building he’d ever had. Garth was an odd man to people who’d just met the guy, but to Sam he was just a ball of excited energy and a man with a heart of gold. 

The older paramedic was someone Sam could look up to because he was so dedicated to saving lives, and helping others whenever he could, it always made Sam feel confident in his job. But, even though he had that side to him too, there was always the whacky side that most definitely outshone the more serious side to Garth. 

"You know, the last time you went to a candy shop your parents weren't impressed."

"Pfft. I can eat what I want when I want." Garth snorted, adjusting the zip on his paramedic suit. "They've really got to get over the fact that I didn't become a dentist like them."

"Maybe if you'd stop rotting your teeth then they will." Sam joked.

Garth laughed, patting his hands on his knees. "Oh, you're funny Sam. So funny."

After much debate about rotting teeth and dentists, Sam and Garth made their way down the brightly lit hall, passing other paramedics who were being called out. They came to the reception desk where a red headed young woman sat who was typing away on her computer as if it were programmed into her system. Sam always wondered how she could type without looking.

"Hey Charlie."

"Oh!" The girl named Charlie smiled from ear to ear. "Hi Sam!"

"How'd the date go last night?" Sam asked her.

"Ha." Charlie sputtered, slumping down in her seat. "She was fifty minutes late, got drunk, and then spewed all over my new jeans. Go figure."

"Not so good then." Sam chuckled, he'd had plenty of bad dates so he knew exactly how she was feeling. "Don't worry Charlie, I'm sure the right girl is out there for you."

"Aw." Charlie smiled brightly. "You're so sweet Sam, you need to find yourself a dude."

Garth laughed beside him. "Last time Sam slept with someone he still had his sideburns."

"I did not." Sam said in shock and horror. Garth obviously had no wisdom of his sex life whatsoever.

"Ya huh! You hardly ever take someone home Sam, you really need to get out more."

"I go out... When I feel like it."

"Which is never."

"Hey! You're such a liar!"

Charlie rolled her eyes at the two bickering men, still throwing words back and forth at each other. She'd almost finished a patients report by the time they'd shut their mouths.  
\----------

Dinner break came around quicker than they’d expected and when Sam stepped into the sweet shop named Angelic Taste, he didn't expect to be met with such an amazing smell of pastries, chocolate and fruity candy, all mashed up in one big tempting ball of air. Sam never usually liked candy, or cakes or anything sweet, but his stomach instantly started protesting as it became hungry enough to eat the entire quantity of the place, starting with the delicious looking chocolate brownies on the shelf to the left. Garth looked like he felt the same, he was already eyeing up the cupcakes by the counter.

"Holy cupcakes." Garth's jaw was practically touching the tiled floor. "Be right back, I'm just going to... Drool over the cakes."

Angelic Taste was the newest shop in town to be opened, nobody had known what it would become since the windows had been boarded up the entire time and there was never any sight of someone going in or out. But judging by the inside of the bakery, the owner had gone to a lot of time and effort to make it as magical as it was. It really was a great new addition to Helwr Village in Sam’s opinion.

It was hard not to want to look around and see what the store had to offer, since there was so much choice of sweet stuff and the two paramedics had a lot of time on their hands. There were different sections to the shop from sweets to cakes, down to ice cream and chocolate, all decorated amongst colourful, round shaped shelves. Sam stared in awe at the ceiling that had toy angels dangling from it, each one holding onto a lollipop the size of their heads, swaying amongst the woolly clouds as if dancing. It was quite amusing, it had Sam smiling without him even realising and he gave out a quiet chuckle.

"Liking the angels?"

Sam almost jumped, taking his eyes off the candy cupids on the ceiling he came face to face with a man in a blue apron to match the walls and a small badge that read ‘manager’ on the left pocket. The dirty blonde haired man was much shorter than Sam, and had outstanding golden eyes and a cheeky smile.

"Thought I'd put in a personal touch." The short man grinned. "And who on this unholy earth are you, handsome?"

Sam unintentionally blushed to the tip of his ears, letting out a short laugh. "Uh... I'm uh... Sam. Sam Winchester." The paramedic wanted to hit himself for sounding like a mumbling idiot. 

"Oh." The short man chuckled cheerfully. "Nice to meet you, uhimuh Sam, Sam Winchester."

Sam looked to the floor in embarrassment swearing to the heavens that his cheeks were on fire, there was something in the way the man looked at him with that glint in his eye that made Sam feel under scrutiny. The hazel eyed man just smiled brightly and leaned against the nearest shelf.

"So, have you come to check out the shop?" He asked. "Or have you come to practice some CPR on a lucky candidate?"

It took a while for Sam to get it into his head what the other had said. Sam didn't know how to take the man's joke, but laughed a little at the mischievous glint in his hazel eyes.

"Uh, we're just checking it out." Sam said, pointing his thumb in the direction of his partner. "Garth's got a thing for chocolate cake."

"Hm." The baker man shrugged, "I don't blame the guy. So, Sam right? Tell me, does my candylicious scent tempt you enough to want some? Or do you just like looking at my attractive face?"

And the candy man couldn't have said it with a more serious expression. Sam, by now, was blushing profusely, not used to guys or even girls being so forward and flirtatious with him. The poor paramedic gawped, no sound coming out.

Then all of a sudden the shorter man was laughing, a cheeky little sound that completely matched his joker personality. 

"You don't have to look so petrified." He chuckled, leaning across the shelf to reach for a lollipop nearby. "Here, have some candy."

Sam hesitated to take the cherry flavoured lolly from the owner, but took it when it was practically being shoved in his face. He had to admit it did look quite delicious, a bright colour of red decorated with polka dotted wrapping. Besides, Sam didn’t have the heart to tell the baker that he didn’t have much of a sweet tooth.

"Thanks." Sam said in confusion when he wasn’t given the price.

"It's a little gift." The blonde man winked. "Only the handsome fellas are lucky enough to get one."

With that said, the shop owner pushed himself off the shelf and gave one last smile Sam's way, throwing in a wave for good measure before he disappeared behind the door at the back of the store. Sam stared at the spot where the mysterious man had disappeared, wondering why he suddenly felt like he was in the best mood ever.

It wasn't until Sam and Garth were walking back to the car that Sam realised, he'd never even asked for the candy man's name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It pained me to read this.. sorry if it's so short and terrible, but I swear it'll get better :p


	3. Pie Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam has a thing for the mysterious Candy man.. and Dean might just have found something more interesting than pie.

It had been a long, dragging week since Sam had last stepped foot into Angelic Taste, the place that he’d been thinking of for those seven days. It’s colourful interior, the cute cupids hanging from the sky, the patterned cakes lining the walls, not to mention the mystery candy man Sam had been blushing over a million times in ten minutes. Sam blushed just thinking about it.

There was something about the candy man that Sam couldn’t put his foot on. He’d never met someone quite like him around town before, not in the twenty six years he grew up there, or during the four years he spent at University in California. Hell, the people at Helwr Village were either busy owning their shops and keeping to it, keeping the town clean whilst yelling at others to do so, or just like to keep to themselves. Sam could tell the candy man would be a great new resident for the village.

At the minute Sam had just returned from a call out, some kid having thought it was a good idea to climb a ten foot tree and broke his leg after falling from the top branch. It was an easy call, one Sam wished didn’t have to happen if parents would teach their children in town to stop climbing the damn trees. It was the third tree call that week.

Sam sighed as he took a seat in the coffee room, relaxing into the soft cushion. He closed his eyes and listened to the quiet humming of the fridge, and the soft voices of passers by outside in the hall. Five more minutes and he would be on break for the next hour, finally some time to unwind and possibly eat his salad he kept stowed in the fridge. Then an idea struck him, and his three friends came strolling into the small kitchen.

“Hey Sam.” Kevin greeted, taking a seat opposite him with his sandwich box.

“Afternoon Sam,” Chuck hailed, making his way over to the coffee maker. “Another kid in a tree call I heard?” Chuck said, flicking on the machine.

“Yeah,” Sam answered, stealing a crisp from Garth’s packet of salt and vinegar ones. “But he wasn’t in the tree, more like on the grass.”

“I swear,” Garth began over a mouthful of crisps. “If we get one more call about a kid falling from a tree, I’m making you two do it.”

Kevin chuckled. “I’m sure we can take turns.”

“Hey guys,” Sam caught their attention, having remembered his plans for his hour dinner break. “Are any of you free for dinner, I was thinking of going back to check out Angelic Taste.”

“Sorry, I’ve got to meet my mom for coffee.” Kevin answered first.

“No can do buckaroo, I’ve got that paper to finish.” Garth said.

“Sorry Sam,” Chuck said finally, taking a seat opposite. “I’ve got to help Charlie with the computer.”

So Sam would have to go it alone. That was until he had an idea, which consisted of his brother and a load of pie.

_“Yo, this is Dean, the better looking Winchester.”_

Sam rolled his eyes as he walked down the street, making his way towards the centre of the village. “You wish, Dean.”

Dean laughed. _“So, what’s up with the dinner time phone call?”_

“Are you busy?” Sam asked, stepping across the road towards the shops. “I’m on my way to Angelic Ta-,”

 _“Hold it right there!”_ Dean interrupted with excitement unmistakable in his voice. _“Dude, count me in! My breaks in ten!”_ Dean would have cheered if he weren’t in a room full of fire-fighters, who were currently watching their favourite film ‘Titanic’ of all things. Dean always thought they were a bunch of sissies.

“Great,” Sam said. “I’ll be there in five.”

 _“Awesome!”_ Dean paused for a second. _“They do pie there right?”_

“Yes Dean, they do pie. Plenty of pie.”

Sam couldn’t help but snort at his brother’s very girly shriek of glee.

\-----

"Oh, come on Sam! That guys a dick, he stole you're piece of cake!"

"That doesn't mean he's out to get me, Dean. Besides, I’m not a fan of cake."

"Does to." Dean mumbled around a piece of sandwich he'd just stuffed into his mouth. “And I still don’t understand your thing about sweet stuff, you’re a freak.”

Sam just rolled his eyes, stopping in his tracks to wait for his brother. Dean was currently arguing with his sandwich, literally shouting at it for having too much salad in the middle and chucking tomatoes into the nearest bin. He did all that while trying really hard not to get sauce all down his uniform.

"Finished fighting with your food yet?" Sam asked, amused when Dean had a piece of lettuce stuck to his finger.

"Shut your mouth." Dean growled, giving up entirely and throwing all the filling into the bin. He carried on eating the rest of the bread. He was damn hungry.

"You'll regret that." Sam smirked amusedly.

"No, the cucumber will regret it." Dean grinned, scoffing down what he had left of the sandwich. "Now come on Sammy, gotta get to that pie before it all runs out."

 _I doubt it_ , Sam thought, but laughed anyway as his brother practically dragged him the rest of the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean could see exactly why his brother wanted to bring him to the brand new candy shop. As soon as he stepped through the front door his jaw dropped to the floor, eyes almost popping out of their sockets. There was pie. There were lots and lots of pies, to his right, on four shelves, and each one with different flavours and decorative pastry. Dean was in pie heaven, literally, there were angels hanging from the ceiling. Dean swallowed the dry lump in his throat, his mouth dried out from the amount of time his jaw had been stuck on the floor. Sam had to laugh to himself as his older brother practically made a run towards the pies, sticking his face against the glass top that protected them just like a kid at a sweet shop.

Dean could see cherry pie with the actual pastry having pieces of cherry in it as well as the filling, pecan pie that looked like a round sea of sticky, syrupy paradise, and the apple pie, the apple pie looked like the greatest pie on earth. Dean wanted to take that pie home and devour it within minutes after admiring it like it was a piece of gold.

"See anything you like?" A strange voice out of nowhere asked from beside him.

Dean nodded slowly. "Dude, I'm in pie heaven."

"That's exactly what I like to hear!"

Sam looked up at the familiar voice of the candy man, who was leaning over the counter near the pies with that cheeky smile etched on his lips. The smaller man winked at him, Sam’s body betraying him as the smile gesture made his cheeks burn red. "How's it going Mr. Winchester?" He asked, propping his chin onto the palm of his hand.

"Uh... Good, thank you." Sam answered.

The candy man smiled genuinely. "Good. I see you brought a friend."

"Yeah." Sam chuckled as he took a glance at the older man, who was close to drooling on the glass. "This is my brother, Dean."

The fireman wasn’t even paying attention to the other two’s conversation; he was too busy choosing between the apple and the rhubarb.

"Ah," the shorter man nodded. "Runs in the family."

"What does?"

"Being heroes." He grinned. "A paramedic and a fireman, that's some hardcore heroism right there."

Sam laughed softly. "I guess we just like the excitement."

"Lucky too." Sam's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "For us I mean, we get to see you in that uniform. I must say, you look rather dashing." Candy man smirked, he was starting to wonder if Sam could blush redder than he already was.

Before Sam could even process what the other man had even said, candy man was around the front of the counter in seconds and sliding up to stand next to Dean who only had eyes for the prize on the shelves. Sam starred at the back of the shop owner’s head, wondering why on earth he was acting like he’d been knocked for six.

"So, Mr. Dean, see anything you like?" He asked the fireman.

"Are you kidding me?" Dean snorted, looking at the candy man as if he’d grown two heads. "Dude, I more than li-" Dean stopped his words in its tracks.

Through the glass of the counter he spotted something moving in the distance, or more like someone. His hand sticking to the glass and his breath steaming up a circle of condensation, he slowly raised himself to stand upright with his eyes stuck on the figure that emerged from the back doors. "Pie." He finished.

Dean didn't mean to stare and look like a real creep eyeing up a man he didn't even know, but he couldn't help himself. The dark haired man was gorgeous, beyond unreal in Dean's books. His slender figure leaning against the worktop as his gentle hands wrapped up a child's bag of lemon sherbet sweets, a smile that made Dean's stomach do that cheesy butterfly thing that he'd heard about on TV, and those lips, Dean could only imagine dirty things with those plump, pink lips. But Dean's gaze was fixed on his eyes, boy were those eyes beautiful. They were sky blue in colour with almost a hint of grey making them seem lighter, but the brightness of them could be seen from across the room, almost like starlight. Dean wanted to mentally slap himself for thinking such sappy stuff.

Dean just couldn’t help it, he was having a chick flick moment with a stranger. It wasn't until the guy himself was looking straight at him that Dean noticed he'd been staring way too long to not be deemed pestering. The man gazed at him as if in wonderment, his head tilted slightly to the side, his brows furrowed. Dean didn't think it was kind of adorable in the slightest. No surrey. But of course Dean couldn't resist, he smiled charmingly at the guy, the one he always used to grab a person of interests attention. The good looking guy looked at Dean in confusion, his eyes scanning across the shop obviously thinking the fireman was smiling at someone else who was nearby. Dean chuckled inaudibly and started grinning at the other man who finally smiled, it was only a slight smile before blue eyes returned to packing the sweets, but that was good enough for Dean.

"See something else you like?" Dean gasped loudly, smacking his hand to his heart in shock. He turned to his left to see the candy guy looking at him with a knowing smirk etched on his face, and he could see Sam laughing to himself from the corner of his eye.

"What?" Dean asked, pretending he didn't have a clue what they were amused about.

"Something else you like in my store?" The blonde guy repeated. "Seems to me you have your eyes on something other than the desserts."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Can't a guy flirt."

"Not with that man, no." Dean raised his brows, Sam doing exactly the same.

"And why the hell not? It's a free country." Dean argued, crossing his arms over his chest and hoping upon all hope that this short dude wasn’t blue eyes’ boyfriend or something.

"Indeed it is." The guy actually grinned, folding his arms over his chest exactly the same way as the fireman. "But when you're flirting with my _brother_ , who I protect with my entire being, I intend to get a little... Cautious."

Dean's eyes widened in realisation to that sentence, his eyes drifting back to the blue eyed man, and then back towards the shop owner. "Oh." He laughed nervously. "You're not gonna beat me up are you?" the guy may be short, but Dean had learnt not to judge a short man by his cover.

The blonde man laughed sincerely. "Course not, besides, do you really think a little guy like me could take you on?" He winked at Sam, who looked rather amused.

"Right." Dean snorted.

"Dean didn't mean anything by it really." Sam outright lied, he knew exactly what his brother was up to. He was probably stripping him with his eyes as they spoke. "It's just... The way he is."

"Oh, I know." Candy man shrugged. "My brother is just a bit... different than most. I have to protect him as best as I can, Castiel's my youngest brother which makes it my duty as a big brother anyway."

"Castiel?" Dean asked curiously.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "Our family are religious, sort of…" "Religious?"

Dean knitted his brows in confusion, he’d lost himself in the conversation within seconds. "Castiel is the name of an angel." Sam suddenly came into the conversation, startling the candy man with his knowledge. Nobody ever knew about that, not even the vicar from the local chapel even knew where his brother’s name came from.

"Huh." The shop owner grinned in amusement. "Look at you, you smarty pants. Don't think anyone's ever known that before."

Sam smiled. "I'm kind of into all that mythology stuff."

"Yeah," Dean rolled his eyes. "He's a nerd."

Sam gave Dean a slight punch to the arm, before Dean left them both standing there as he made his way down the pie shelves, continuing his search for the best pie. And he was secretly taking short glances at Castiel through the glass, but he wouldn't be letting them know that. Most definitely not his big brother who was eyeing him up suspiciously as he went from pie to pie.

"You're a nerd then huh?" The candy man turned to Sam once Dean had found a pie and stared at it as if it were the Crown Jewels.

Sam grinned and let out a slight chuckle. "I guess, I just like to read and watch awesome movies, so Dean likes to think I'm a big nerd." Sam shrugged.

"Well, you're a hot nerd, so it's more of a compliment really."

Sam blushed, he really had to see someone about that. Maybe it was because he wasn't used to such blunt compliments from anyone, let alone a good looking guy like the candy man. Then it hit him, after all this time he’d been calling him the candy man in his head and he didn't even know the guy's real name.

"Wait,” Sam suddenly changed topic, earning an enquiring look from the shorter man. “You know my name, but I don't even know yours." The candy man chuckled lightly.

"Just call me the Candy man, Samalam." Sam laughed, that was a new nickname he’d never heard before. "But usually people just call me Gabriel."

"Gabriel?" Sam grinned; interest peeked at the new fact, "As in the archangel Gabriel?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes playfully. "The one and only, kiddo. I told you my family were religious."

"That's quite amazing." Sam said honestly. "Gabriel's one of the greatest angels, he's always been my favourite in myths. He's so interesting, the whole thing with the horn of truth and being the one who delivered messages to Mary and..." Sam stopped himself once he'd realised he was going off on a tangent and the other man was looking at him with glee in his eyes. Gabriel laughed wholeheartedly, noticing the slight redness creeping up Sam's cheeks.

"Well, I've got to say, no one’s ever shown so much interest in my name before let alone the history of it."

Sam smiled. It wasn't until he looked away from Gabriel's golden eyes that he realised the shorter man was holding out a large lollipop for him to take.

"Candy?" Sam accepted it, of course he wouldn’t be telling Gabriel he didn’t have much of a sweet tooth. And with the way Gabriel was smiling at him, Sam really didn't want to go back to work anymore.

Dean doesn't know how many minutes he'd been standing by the end of the pie shelves, taking in the different flavoured ones on the bottoms shelf, to the pecan pies decorating the top shelf. No matter how long it had been, he'd still say he looked a bit like a creepy stalker who’d been hiding himself behind stacks of grub to peak through at the man on the other side. It wasn't his fault that his eyes caught hold of this Castiel guy every now and then, he was nice to look at, let alone making Dean's eyes almost pop out of their sockets every time he smiled. Dean wasn't going to lie, he may just have fallen head over heels for a man he hadn't even met yet. Well, Bobby had always said, once it happens you'll know.

Dean was happy in his little stalker bubble until Sam had to ruin it all. The giant gave him a slap to the shoulder almost sending his older brother into the shelves of pie. "Jesus, Sam," Dean croaked in surprise. "Give a guy a warning next time!"

Sam only chuckled in response. "Are we heading back now? I'm working nights so I need to get some stuff sorted back at the hospital."

"Urgh." Dean groaned, liking the way Castiel wrapped a box of chocolate fudge with a red ribbon. “Can’t we just stay here a bit longer?”

"No Dean, we can’t stay here longer, Gabriel’s brother might report you to the police."

Dean snorted. "Bitch."

"Jerk." Sam retorted with a victorious grin. "Let's go before I'm forced to drag you out."

“Wait,” Dean said before Sam could move. “Gabriel?” Dean laughed in amusement. “Hey Sam, you’re gonna be banging an archangel before long.”

Sam hit his brother hard on the arm. “I’m surprised you even know an archangel.”

Dean rolled his eyes, following Sam as he made his way out of the shop. The wink Gabriel sent Sam as he went through the door didn't go unnoticed of course, it was great new material for Dean to tease the hell out of him once he gets home. Maybe even for the rest of the month. As Dean stepped through the door he took one last glance inside, his gaze landing on the dark haired, blue eyed man. What surprised him most was that Castiel was looking straight at him, his eyes widening as Dean met his gaze. Castiel looked away immediately, bowing his head down to look at a book that was open on the counter, and even from here Dean could see his slightly reddening cheeks. The fireman grinned, taking that as a good sign. It wasn’t until Dean was back at the station putting on his uniform that a light bulb went off in his head, he hadn’t even bought any of that delicious looking pie.

\-----

“Castiel?”

Gabriel stepped into the back of his candy store, opening the door to a darkened room and complete silence. He hadn’t expected his young brother to be having a party back there, but he wasn’t expecting to walk to the back of the kitchen to find Castiel hunched in the corner, holding onto a book as if his life depended on it.

“Castiel?” Gabriel repeated, kneeling beside his brother and putting a hand reassuringly on his shoulder. “Hey, little brother, what’s wrong?”

Castiel looked up, blinking his blue eyes in confusion. Gabriel soon realised what his brother was doing and he chuckled, patting Castiel on the back gently. “You know, you don’t have to go into a panic every time you break something.”

Castiel frowned, holding out the black book for his brother to take a hold of. Gabriel picked it up and turned it over in his hand, noticing how a few pages slipped out from between the others and floated down onto his lap. Castiel was upset because he’d accidentally ripped a few pages out of his brother’s book, but luckily Gabriel didn’t give a damn about one silly little manuscript.

“Don’t worry, Castiel.” Gabriel told him, helping his brother stand from the cold, tiled floor. “It’s only a book, there’s plenty more back home.”

Castiel nodded, following his brother as he made his way into his office to collect their things. There wasn’t much to get except a few other books that Castiel had borrowed to read during his breaks and a tub of sweets that Gabriel couldn’t help but pick at every time he felt like a snack. Before the clock struck six the two brothers were out of there, and making their way towards Gabriel’s strange, mustard like coloured car.

During their trip home Gabriel had kept quiet, watching out of the corner of his eye as Castiel stared out of the window, obviously with something on his mind. Gabriel wasn’t dull, in fact he was so damn clever he knew exactly what his little brother was thinking. Gabriel sighed, he hated giving Castiel one of the ‘talks’ that was somewhere in the book of ‘how to raise your younger brother’.

Ever since his brother had moved into his home he’d have to look after him like he was a child, helping him find places he needed to go to, showing him how to use the different appliances in his house, even supplying him with a job to keep him close by encase he panicked being alone. Castiel wasn’t used to this sort of life, one where he had to take care of himself and be amongst other people, and Gabriel had to change that.

“Castiel?” he said aloud which gained his brother’s attention, the younger man looked on at him until Gabriel spoke. “You’ll be careful, right? I mean, watch what you’re doing and don’t go off on your own.”

Castiel nodded, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. “I know, I know.” Gabriel sighed, his younger brother obviously wasn’t stupid but it still had to be said. “I just want you to look out for yourself while you’re here, you know… be wise when you meet people, don’t get too attached or… too close.”

Castiel looked away then, starting to fiddle with his thumbs. He knew exactly what Gabriel was talking about if he was that obvious earlier on, and his older brother had a slight speculation of how interested Castiel was in the people of the town.

“You know I’m talking about the guy earlier, don’t ya?” Gabriel said, smiling crookedly. “Listen, it’s new to you, I know that. I’m not saying don’t talk to the guy or don’t get to know him or anything, just… be careful, okay?”

Castiel gazed at Gabriel in amazement, half expecting him to tell him to stay the hell away from anyone who even looked at him for more than five seconds. The dark haired man smiled softly, giving his brother’s hand a tight squeeze before moving his stare to outside of the window once again. Gabriel only sighed quietly, hoping that Castiel would take what he’d said to heart.

That same night Gabriel was on his knees at the bottom of his bed, hands clasped together and head bowed.

“Father in heaven,” he began praying quietly. “Please, if you can hear my prayer, help me to help Castiel. I know he… he shouldn’t be here but… I just want him to be safe. Please just… give me strength and help me protect those around me.”

Gabriel sighed loudly, rubbing a hand through his hair before finishing with, “Amen.” Getting into bed the baker flopped onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, it wasn’t long before he felt himself drift off to sleep with the sound of a soft voice, that he told himself was just his imagination, whispering in his ear.

“ _Goodnight son_.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lame shortness! (And terrible updateness)


	4. Just Ask Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean finally gets to meet Castiel face to face... while Sam and Gabriel become quite close.

Precisely four weeks had passed since Sam's first encounter with the baker Gabriel. In those weeks the two had practically become best friends, knowing the ins and outs of each other, Sam knowing how Gabriel liked his hot chocolate (three sugars with some vanilla flavouring and a squirt of cream with caramel sauce) and Gabriel knowing how much time Sam could spend on his laptop without getting frustrated (he only lasts around an hour and a half).

Garth had been Sam's partner in crime at the bakery, joining him on their free time at work to go cake shopping, because frankly Sam didn't have much of a sweet tooth compared to his friend which made it less obvious that Sam just wanted to be there for other reasons besides pastry buying. They'd go there almost daily, around the same time at lunch while it wasn't as busy as it would be at dinner, and Sam would always be greeted with a bright smile and a complimentary lollipop from Gabriel himself. Even though within a couple of days Gabriel had figured out that Sam preferred rabbit food over pecan pie. The baker had been mortified, but vowed to change Sam's opinion someday.

Dean had gone along with Sam only the once, and the paramedic knew exactly why his brother wanted to join him and it wasn't because of his unhealthy obsession with apple pie. The one time Dean had had the time to join him, Castiel had taken one look at them and had practically sprinted for the back door and not appeared from behind it again. Sam had found it odd, while Dean had the look of a kicked puppy on his face. Gabriel had mealy told them his younger brother was just shy sometimes, and Dean had sworn to himself he'd be back not only for the pie. Sam had just told him to wait until Castiel came to him, knowing that Gabriel didn't want his brother to be hurt.

All in all, Sam's few weeks at the bakery had been the best time he'd had in a long while. Gabriel had brought out his happiness which he thought he'd have a hard time finding again after his parent’s death, but it wasn't hard for the baker, since even one compliment from the man had Sam blushing and wishing he could kiss the smirk off Gabriel's lips. He had it bad, he'd fallen for the baker quicker than he'd thought possible.

It wasn't until the end of the four weeks he'd met Gabriel that he realised he might have just done so, falling head over heels for a man he'd been getting to know through his cakes, light-hearted pranks and random jokes. It was around six thirty at night on a rainy Tuesday that Sam entered Saint David's chapel, just in the centre of town between the rows of shops and surrounded by dark wooden fence. The chapel had been standing long before Sam was even born, by now its windows were getting chipped and the walls needed to be repaired in white whilst the front wooden door needed to be sanded down. But it was still the same on the inside, ten rows of pews on either side making their way towards the steps that led to a pulpit on the left and a red clothed table just in front, and on that table stood a glistening gold cross that hadn't been moved except to be polished.

Mary Winchester, his mother, had always brought Dean and himself to the chapel every Sunday. She'd never missed a single Sunday since the boys were born. When she had died their father had started bringing them in memory of their mother, up until Sam turned eleven and their father had gone to heaven too. Sam had never stepped foot in the chapel after, that's until he turned eighteen and Sam had found his mother's silver necklace in the box they'd kept hidden in their uncle Bobby's attic, the one with the archangel and his horn. Sam had prayed to his mother that same night, promising her that he would go back to her favourite place and pray to them as if they were still there with him.

That's what he was doing on the rainy Tuesday. Sam had quietly walked into the chapel and took a seat right at the front of the rows of seats, no other person in sight besides the vicar who had greeted him and retreated to his quarters for an early night. The young paramedic bowed his head and clasped his hands together, saying hello to his parents and telling them of his day.

He told them softly about Dean getting his finger jammed in the microwave door that morning, of how Kevin had puked at the sight of someone's injuries at the hospital, and how Bobby had bought him his favourite book that he'd caught sight of in the shop window. Sam had also whispered to them about Dean's obvious crush on the blue eyed man at the bakery, laughing as he retold the events of their first meeting weeks ago, and how Dean was moping around after Castiel had ran into the back of the shop. Sam wished his parents could answer back.

He gave out a big sigh as he clenched his hands tighter, resting his forehead against his knuckles. "I wish you guys were here right now, I miss you a hell of a lot." He said, "I just hope you know how much I love you and that I'm doing good. I'm doing good mum and dad, I promise."

Sam lifted his head and looked up at the angel statue that sat just above the pulpit, before speaking quietly, "I hope those angels are taking care of you."

"I'm sure they are, Sam."

Sam felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of another man's voice beside him, and turned around fast to see Gabriel standing to his right with a soft smile gracing his lips. He was the last person Sam thought he'd meet in the chapel, judging by the way Gabriel talked about religion.

"Gabriel," Sam practically whispered. "What are you doing here?"

Gabriel shrugged as he took a seat beside the other man. "Was on my way home, thought I'd take a detour."

"I thought you hated churches and chapels?"

Gabriel chuckled, nodding his head. "Oh I do, but sometimes it's good to admire the architecture." He said as he gestured to the finely decorated ceiling and windows.

Sam smiled, watching Gabriel as he leaned back casually and rested his head on the back of the pew. "So," Gabriel started. "Were you talking to your parents?" 

Sam bowed his head, he felt embarrassed that someone had heard him, and it was even worse that it had been his one and only crush. But then Sam mentally slapped himself for even feeling embarrassed about it, something that made him feel his parents presence, something that made him feel like his parents were still alive.

"I know it sounds stupid, talking to my dead parents and all," he began. "But I just... I just have to, I feel like they're still here, that... They can hear me."

Gabriel looked at him straight in the eye then, his face serious and without a hint of his usually snarky self. "They hear you Sam."

Sam gazed at Gabriel in wonder. "How can you know that?"

Gabriel shrugged. "If you believe they can, if you have faith, then they can hear you." Was his simple answer.

Sam smiled happily, nodding in response as he tore his gaze towards the stone angel. They sat there quietly for what seemed like hours, the silence between them not awkward in the slightest, instead it was calming and had Sam feeling like he could fall back and sleep anytime soon. 

"Sam," Gabriel broke the silence and caught the other man's attention. "Tell me about your parents, if you want to."

Sam did want to. He'd never told anyone what happened to them, but Gabriel, he was different. So Sam told Gabriel everything. The paramedic told the baker how his mother had died in a house fire when he was six, how their father had died during a hunting trip when he was eleven, how their uncle Bobby had taken them in and raised them until Dean was old enough to get them both their own home in their town and had raised enough money along with Bobby to get them both into college. Gabriel had listened to every word in silence and held his hand as he cried, and that was the moment Sam realised Gabriel was his very own guardian angel.

\----------

Once Sam and Gabriel had finished their talk inside the chapel, and the rain had died down outside, the baker had declared out of the blue that he was starving and wanted to go for something to eat. Sam agreed, knowing he hadn't eating anything since lunch at work that afternoon, and motioned for Gabriel to follow him down the street. By then Gabriel's own stomach had decided to make quite a few loud rumbles, and had Sam laughing while the baker tried to talk his stomach into shutting up.

Sam led them to the end of the street where a small diner sat apart from the shop, the outside of the building more colourful than a clowns outfit. Gabriel had driven past it a couple of times but never really stopped and looked, it blinded him to even stare at the walls for too long although the pictures of rockets and aliens dotted around the entrance made him laugh. It was the strangest looking diner he'd seen in a long time. Probably ever.

The eatery was called Ash's Rocket, Sam had told Gabriel before they'd entered that Ash was a good friend of his, they'd gone to the same school and Ash used to be in the same class as Dean and had gotten the older Winchester into more trouble than Bobby would have liked. Over the years Ash had shaped up, even though he still drank more beer than water, and had taken over his aunt's business after she'd left the town with her daughter to take on the city. Judging by the interior on the inside, he hadn't messed up his aunt's diner too much.

It was like any other diner, booths to eat in, a long counter from one side of the diner to the other, and an old looking jukebox in the right hand corner where Elvis was currently bounding out Hound-dog. Gabriel wondered why he hadn't set foot in there in the six months since he'd moved to the town. He decided he'd definitely come back once he'd taken a bite of the bacon and cheese burger he'd ordered, and he was totally having the vanilla milkshake the next time around.

"I still can't believe you've never been here." Sam said as he took a bite of his chicken. 

"It ain't easy building up a bakery from the ground ya know." Gabriel winked teasingly, before popping a French fry into his mouth. "I haven't really taken a tour of the town, I just moved into my home and spent all my time on the bakery. And before you say it, yes I know, I need to get out more."

Sam grinned. "Then maybe I should take you out, show you around."

"Hm," Gabriel mumbled around the straw he was slurping his milkshake with. "Now that sounds like a plan."

Sam smiled brightly, already looking forward to more time with the baker. He felt like a damn teenager again, which wasn't all that bad. Sam wondered if Gabriel felt the same way as he did, if Gabriel possibly wanted a little more than friendship between them, if maybe he'd at least try and see if something could become of their close bond. He was about to take a big leap and just go for it and ask him out, but fate had different ideas for him when his brother practically screeched his name from the entrance to the diner.

"Sammy!"

Sam cringed at his brother's booming voice that most people seemed to notice. His brother had very bad timing, all the time, he'd never even considered having good timing. 

"What's up you two! Thought I'd pass by after work for some pie." He greeted the pair as he plonked himself besides Sam. "Have I caught you both on a secret date?" He teased.

Sam rolled his eyes as Gabriel laughed and answered, "Okay, you got us, we were on a date."

Sam almost choked on his water as Gabriel said it, and he got a hard slap in the back from Dean with a, "You go Sammy. Sorry to intrude."

Sam swallowed hard. "We-we aren't on a date, it's fine."

"Aren't we?" Gabriel mocked a shocked surprise, putting a hand to his heart. "And I thought we were getting along great." Sam smiled shyly at Gabriel who in turn winked back.

"Right." Dean dead panned, of the lovey do eyes weren't so obvious Dean wouldn't have said the word date in the first place. "Where's Ash?" He asked his brother as he looked around the diner.

"Apparently he's passed out on the sofa upstairs." Sam answered as he finished off his salad. "Had one too many beers to celebrate his cousins birthday this evening."

Dean laughed loudly. "Eight o'clock and the dude's already hammered?"

Sam nodded, while Gabriel looked highly impressed that a guy was already unconscious from drinking this early. Dean even went on to tell Gabriel a story of their high school days when Ash had gotten into trouble with the chemistry teacher, he'd decided to bring two cans of beer into school at night and drink them out of the glass tubes that they used for experiments in class. Mr. Peterson was not very amused with Ash the day after when he found him sprawled across one of the tables, out cold and drooling like a dog.

"Sounds like a fun guy." Gabriel snorted.

"A little on the crazy side." Dean shrugged as he fidgeted with his trouser pocket and yanked out a five dollar note. "I'm gonna get me some pie!"

The next twenty minutes were spent bitching about the weather and what was on the tv on a Saturday, mostly on Dean's part but the other two stepped in when they weren't stuffing their faces with the chocolate cake that Gabriel had forced Sam to share with him. Sam would never admit it tasted amazing of course.

By half eight the three of them were stuffed, but it didn't stop Gabriel for ordering them both a cup of coffee and himself a mug of steaming hot chocolate. They even added in the whipped cream and caramel sauce for no extra charge. Dean was picking his cup up off the table and managed to get it halfway to his lips before he stopped, the front door to the diner opened and someone he didn't expect to see stepped through.

Castiel came through the entrance with a bag tucked under his arm, wearing the long beige trench coat that Dean had seen him wear when he'd walk past the fire station. The blue eyed man looked as eye catching as ever, Dean loved the way his dark hair stuck up in odd angles and the way his head always tilted to the side when he was thinking. Dean felt his masculinity slowly deflate as more of those thoughts crossed his mind.

"Castiel?" Gabriel called to his brother as the younger man looked around. "You got here quick, come on over."

Castiel caught sight of the men and his eyes widened as he realised Gabriel wasn't entirely alone. It didn't go unnoticed by Dean and the fireman wondered if he'd done something wrong, he'd only ever been face to face with Castiel twice and glimpsed him a few times walking by on the street. Maybe he was just shy after all, or maybe Dean just had one of those faces that freaked people out. But he doubted that last one.

"Come on Cas," Gabriel tapped the seat beside him, and Castiel did as he was told and sat down right across from Dean.

"What's up baby bro?" Gabriel greeted him with a pat on the shoulder.

"Hi." Sam said with a smile, while Dean sent him one too.

"Got the keys?" Gabriel asked him, Castiel reaching into his bag to retrieve said keys. "Awesome, I'll go finish the paperwork at the bakery tonight."

Castiel nodded, tucking his bag in close and wrapping his arms around it as if it were a safety blanket. "This is Sam and Dean Winchester by the way," Gabriel said to his brother. "I don't think you guys have been properly introduced."

"Nice to meet you Castiel." Said Sam so got an unsure smile in return.

Dean finally caught the man's gaze as he said, "Hey Cas." The baker's brother smiled shyly and nodded once. "You don't mind me calling you Cas do you? If you do you can just tell me."

Castiel shook his head slowly, turning to Gabriel as if asking for help. Gabriel smiled reassuringly at his brother before sighing as Castiel looked downhearted all of a sudden, Gabriel knew his younger brother wanted to speak back to Dean but he couldn't.

"Hey, Castiel," he spoke softly to his brother, and reached into his back pocket for some change. "Go and get yourself some hot chocolate, according to Sam they do pretty good stuff here."

Castiel smiled thankfully to his brother and accepted the money, before carefully placing his bag on the floor and walking towards the counter with a menu his brother handed him. 

"I think you guys should know," Gabriel began as soon as Castiel was out of ear shot, the Winchesters gazed at him confused. "Castiel can't talk, he lost his voice in a... car accident when he was young."

Dean and Sam looked surprised at the news, both turning to watch Castiel as he handed the menu over to the lady behind the counter and pointing to what he wanted. "Is that why he's so shy?" Sam asked.

"Sort of." Gabriel shrugged. "He just... Doesn't like not being able to talk I guess. Makes him shy away from hum-people." 

"I'm sorry," Sam sighed. "Must be terrible for him."

"He's a tough kid." Gabriel smiled, his little brother was one of a kind. "Stronger than he looks."

"How does he communicate with you?" Dean asked curiously, seemingly very interested in getting to know all about it. "Does he know sign language?"

"No," Gabriel bit his lip. "He just points and gestures and sometimes writes things out, or I just know what he wants because he's not hard to read." Gabriel chuckled.

Sam smiled, he felt so bad for Castiel knowing that he had lost his voice through something he couldn't prevent, and he wanted the ability to talk just like anyone else would in his situation. Sam wished he could do something to help him. By the look on Dean's face he wished he could to, the fireman was staring down at his cup as if off in his own world.

"Hey Castiel," Gabriel greeted his brother as he came back to the table with a hot chocolate in his hand. "Castiel's got a thing for hot chocolate." He told the brothers.

"There's something you've got in common with Dean," Sam said, as Castiel gazed at him with a blank expression. "This guy's a pig when it comes to food with high sugar and fats."

"Hey!" Dean snorted, nudging Sam with his elbow. "At least I don't eat grass."

The brothers laughed, along with Gabriel and they noticed Castiel with a slight tilt to the lips as he wrapped his hands around his mug of steaming hot chocolate. Maybe getting Castiel to get to know the Winchesters wasn't a bad idea after all.

"So Cas," Dean turned to the blue eyed man who looked at him shyly. "What kind of food do you like? And don't say rabbit food.” He grinned.

Castiel blinked, as if confused as to why someone was actually talking to him. He'd never had someone strike up a conversation with him before and it made him kind of nervous, he couldn't answer back, and it made him feel useless. Gabriel seemed to notice, and gazed at his brother sadly. Dean noticed the exchange of course, he slapped himself mentally for forgetting after two freaking seconds that Castiel didn't have a voice, so the fireman got up from the table and went in search for something.

Sam and Gabriel exchanged confused glances as Dean left the table out of the blue, Sam shrugging at the two brothers sitting opposite him because frankly he had no idea what Dean was planning either. It didn't take long for them to find out, Dean returned after a few seconds of chatting to one of the men behind the counter, and sat himself down in his seat. The older Winchester placed a small notepad down on the table in front of him and held a pen in the other, before writing something down on it and pushing it towards Castiel.

The other man looked at Dean as if he'd grown two heads, and the fireman couldn't help but laugh. "Don't write rabbit food." Dean winked, holding out the pen for Castiel to take.

Castiel glanced at the paper set in front of him, his brother reading over his shoulder, and it read:

'What kind of food do you like? :)'

Castiel's eyes drifted back to the man in front of him who was smiling charmingly, and he couldn't help but smile back. Dean had gone and found him a notepad just to be able to talk to him, which meant more than Castiel could even describe even if it sounded ridiculous. The man sitting across from him was willing to sit there and have a conversation on stupid sheets of paper, and Castiel couldn't help but smile brightly as he wrote his answer.

'I like anything but rabbit food :)'

He handed it back to Dean, who laughed quietly to himself before scribbling something else down. As the two conversed through the notepad in their own world, Sam and Gabriel sat quietly beside them and drank their drinks, the two of them smiling knowingly at one another.

When Sam glanced down at his watch again he was surprised when it read quarter past nine. The men had been so caught up in their conversations that none of them had realised the time, and when Sam told them Gabriel was instantly on his feet.

"Damn, I forgot I had those papers to do by tomorrow." He said frustratingly, tugging on his jacket quickly. "I'd best love you and leave you, Castiel will you be okay to go home by yourself?"

Castiel nodded slowly, clearly nervous. "It's fine, I'll give you a lift Cas." Dean said, earning a small smile from the blue eyed man.

"Really?" Gabriel smiled in appreciation. "Thanks so much Deano, I appreciate it."

"Want me to walk with you to the bakery?" Sam asked the baker as they all rose from the table, making their way out the door. 

"Oh, no Sam it's okay," Gabriel answered. "I wouldn't want you walking home alone afterwards."

"Honestly, it's fine." Sam chuckled. "I am a big boy now you know."

Gabriel grinned. "Oh, I bet you are."

Sam blushed as red as a tomato as he realised he totally just put his foot in that one. "You guys are gross." Dean mumbled as they walked out into the fresh air.

After walking Castiel and Dean to the black impala that stood nearby in the parking lot, Dean opened the door for Castiel who got into the passenger seat and waited. Gabriel ducked down to have a private word with him, while the Winchesters stood aside to have their own.

"You know," Dean began, as Sam shuffled his feet on the side of the pavement. "I could just give Gabriel a lift to the bakery too."

Sam gawped at his brother, and tried to let the words out but all that he came out with was, "I... Uh... Yeah."

Dean grinned, wiggling his eyebrows funnily up and down. "You just wanted some alone time with the candy man over there didn't ya?" 

Sam could feel his cheeks start to heat up, and he got a nudge in the stomach. "Ow! You jerk."

"Bitch." Dean grinned. "Hey, it's a good plan Sammy. Get him all alone in the bakery, lead him to the dark and quiet office at the back, get on your kne-"

"Dean!" Sam hissed, rubbing his hands down his face. His brother really had no care in the world that perhaps the two men not far from them could hear every word they were saying. "I hate you."

Dean laughed wholeheartedly. "Chill Sammy, they didn't hear a word."

"I still hate you." Sam grumbled as Gabriel started walking towards them.

"Sorry, just letting Castiel know how to lock up properly. He's never been alone in the house before." Gabriel told them, the brothers nodding in understanding. "Listen Dean," The older Winchester looked at the smaller man, wondering if he was about to get a lecture on how not to treat his brother. "I just want to thank you, for what you did for Castiel earlier."

"What I did?" 

"Yeah," Gabriel smiled genuinely. "The whole writing on paper thing to talk to Castiel. Nobody’s ever really talked to him properly before, let alone write it all down, I think it helped you know. It made him quite happy, I could tell."

Dean had a small smile on his lips by this point. "It was nothing, I just wanted him to know I don't bite." He joked. 

Gabriel and Sam chuckled. "Well," Gabriel said. "I think it worked. He's taken to you quite quickly it seems."

Dean smiled rather proudly, that was something he really wanted to hear. "Good. He's a great guy."

"Yes he is, and don't forget what I said before either."

Dean had no idea what he was talking about, they'd had many conversations in the past few weeks. Apparently Sam knew though, if it he look on his face was anything to go by, the smug giant was smirking.

"He's talking about when you first saw Cas," Sam answered for the blonde man. "Hurt Cas and he'll come after you, basically."

Gabriel nodded in all seriousness. Dean's eyes widened at the surprisingly scary face Gabriel was giving him. "Highly noted."

"Good." Gabriel grinned and clapped both hands together. "Now, get in that terribly old car of yours and drive him home without a word, and don't try anything like walking him to the front door to ravish him with kisses, because I'll know. Let's go Samsquatch!"

Dean stood there with his mouth open like a fish, watching as his brother laughed whilst walking towards the bakery with Gabriel. "I'll have you know I'm a true gentleman!" He shouted at them.

"Yeah right!" Sam yelled back.

Dean rolled his eyes before heading back to the impala, giving her a pat on the hood to apologise for Gabriel calling her old. Nobody dissed Dean's beautiful car, not even Sam. He'd put pepper in Sam's coffee once for saying that the impala needed to be repainted, safe to say his younger brother had learnt his lesson.

"Okay," Dean said as he plonked himself into the driver’s seat. "Let's go Cas!"

Castiel turned to Dean and smiled happily, before looking out of the window to watch the passers-by. Dean thought he was unbelievably gorgeous and couldn't stop staring, he immediately stopped himself from looking anymore because Gabriel had made him paranoid that he'd hidden a camera in his car or something. He wouldn't be surprised if he actually had.

"So, here we are."

Gabriel and Sam took just about ten minutes to walk to the bakery, not many people were in sight except for the few who were out for some late night drinking, or even late night snaking in the restaurant across the road. 

"Are you sure you'll be okay to get home?" Sam asked him as the shorter man stuck his key in the lock. "I don't want you walking home so late by yourself."

Gabriel chuckled softly, turning to the younger man. "Awh Sam, aren't you a real Prince Charming." Sam smiled somewhat embarrassed. "I'll be fine Sam, really. I'll only be around an hour and by then the drunks and rebel teenagers will be out to keep me company."

Sam's brows shot up into his hairline. "Is that supposed to reassure me or?"

"At least I won't be walking home alone ey?"

Sam rolled his eyes playfully. "Don't even think about talking to any drunks."

"Why not?" Gabriel mock gasped. "Are you afraid I might take one home as a pet?"

"You're so weird." Sam laughed, following the man inside the shop as he gestured him inside with a tilt of his head. "Seriously though, he careful."

Gabriel flicked on one of the dim lights at the back and unlocked the back door leading to his office, before turning to Sam who was swaying back and forth on his feet. And he wondered why Gabriel called him a kid sometimes.

"I'll be careful Sam, I promise." Gabriel told him, leaning on the worktop. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll send you a text to say I'm home safely."

"I'd like that." Sam smiled cheerfully, even if he was asleep in bed he'd still want the baker to let him know he was safe and sound. 

"Sorted then." Gabriel grinned. "Now, you'd best be off before I lure you into helping me with this paperwork."

"I can help if you want."

Gabriel stopped dead as he was about to pick up a folder on the shelf behind him, and couldn't help but laugh slightly at the all seriousness on Sam's face. "Sam," he said. "That was a joke. I don't want you helping me because it's a boring ass thing to be doing, and you've got work in the morning so bugger off and get some sleep."

"Oh." Sam mumbled. "Okay then, I'll uh... See you tomorrow?"

Gabriel laughed lightly. "Yeah Samwhich, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll keep one of those croissants you like all wrapped up out back for you."

Sam really did like those croissants, he smiled at the thought of coming back here and eating one with Gabriel like he had one day the other week. He'd enjoyed that day, the two of then sitting by the window with their baked goods and music in the background as they spoke about random things. It had almost felt like a date.

A date. Sam had been holding himself back for days now, wanting so badly to ask Gabriel out on a real date, after all, he liked the candy man far more than he'd liked anyone in his entire life. He'd just been too nervous to do so, mostly because he'd never really been alone with Gabriel unless someone was around like a customer or even Dean, and also because he was one hell of a coward. If Dean could hear his thoughts now he'd just tell him to suck it up and go in for the kill. Sam snorted at the thought, but he was finally alone with Gabriel with nobody around, and time was wasting away far too quickly.

"Sam?" Gabriel caught his attention and snapped him out of his own mind. " You okay there?"

"Yeah, yeah sorry, uh," Sam breathed in deeply and dug his hands in his coat pocket, something he did when he was anxious. "Before I go um... I just wanted to ask you something, I guess I uh..."

Gabriel looked at him in confusion, because frankly he must look like a right idiot at that moment. "Ask me what?"

Sam sighed and decided to screw it all. "Will you go out with me?" He said way faster than he'd anticipated. 

Gabriel was staring at him, proper staring at him with wide eyes and lips apart. This was it, Gabriel was going to start laughing at him for being stupid for thinking he'd say yes to him, then he'd kick him out and tell him he doesn't ever want to see him again. He might even stop Dean from seeing Castiel, and then Dean will be mad at him and never want to speak to him again, and Castiel might even beat him up for keeping Dean from him and-

"Okay."

Sam gawped. Gabriel laughed softly, and made his way around the counter. Sam was all prepared for a let-down, but what he didn't expect was for Gabriel to accept.

"So, just to be sure, you want me to go on a date with you right?" Gabriel asked.

Sam nodded. "Uh... Yeah."

"Okay then." 

"Okay then?"

Gabriel laughed again, placing his hand on Sam's arm and shaking him a little. "Sam, you look like a deer in the headlights. Or should I say moose, you're far too big to be a deer."

Sam, ignoring that last comment began to grin widely. "You'll actually go on a date with me?"

"Sam, you asked me, I said yes." Gabriel grinned toothily. "That's what that means yeah. Why? Having seconds thoughts?"

"God no." Sam let out without being able to stop himself.

Gabriel only chuckled lightly. "Then let's go on a date."

Sam left the bakery ten minutes later with the biggest grin on his face. One, because soon he'd finally be taking Gabriel out on a date, and two, the candy man had given him a kiss on the cheek goodnight. He wouldn't be telling Dean that though, he wouldn't hear the end of it.


	5. That Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Gabriel go on their first date

It had just been over a week since Sam’s brave attempt at asking Gabriel out on a date, not that he was going to tell anyone the details about how it went, especially not Dean. Since then Sam and Gabriel had practically been inseparable, you could go as far as saying they’d been on kind of dates, if sitting in the bakery chatting about the weather and the latest television shows counted. Sam always found the time to visit the older man when he’d had the day off or felt the need to have a break from work. Although he’d seen him almost every day at the shop, Sam still had his heart set on their first date that was yet to come.

Dean had acted exactly how Sam thought he would. As soon as Sam had gotten home that night after they’d dropped off Gabriel and Castiel, he’d had the goofiest smile on his face which obviously peeked Dean’s curiosity. After Sam had told him Gabriel had said yes to going out on a date with him Dean wouldn’t shut up until they went to bed, which then led to the morning where Dean sang mushy love songs at the top of his voice that had Sam throwing pillows in his face by the time they left for work. Dean even ran up to Gabriel during lunch the next day and shook his hand, while thanking him for finally giving Sam some action. The paramedic may have hidden the pie back home after that.

But Dean had his own purpose for visiting the bakery also, and perhaps a reason for Sam to make fun of him too (which he did start doing when Dean’s love songs started getting louder). From the time when the four men had ate around the table at Ash’s diner Dean and Castiel had become good friends too, even Gabriel was surprised to see his brother come out of his shell so easily around the older Winchester. Dean spent some of his breaks at the bakery whenever he could, which was basically when Bobby let him leave the firehouse, he was still adamant that Dean would be late for something or other.

Even when Dean had a day off he’d pop by with his notebook that he’d bought from the nearest supermarket, one in green which was Castiel’s favourite colour, and spend a couple of hours not speaking a word to the baker’s brother instead communicating with him through pen and paper. Gabriel could see the change in Castiel since Dean had started spending time with him, and he was gradually starting to believe that maybe Dean was good for his younger brother after all.

“What are you thinking?” Sam asked Gabriel as he sat down beside him, placing his plastic bowl of salad down in front of him.

The paramedic was currently on his dinner break and had decided to eat with Gabriel at the bakery, whilst he sat at the desk behind the counter Gabriel sat on top with a plate of cheese and ham toasties. Like most days during the week Dean was there too, the fireman was on his day off and had strolled in not long ago requesting a slice of apple pie and an hour with Castiel. Gabriel, being the best brother in the world as he’d put it, let Castiel take some time off to spend an hour with Dean in the sitting area part of the shop. Currently Castiel was passing the notebook back to Dean who laughed charmingly at what the dark haired man had written.

“Dean won’t do anything, you know, improper with Castiel right?” Gabriel asked Sam as he munched down on his toasted sandwich.

Sam stopped mid bite and looked up at the other man. “Improper?”

“Like, try to get into his pants improper.”

Sam almost choked on the lettuce he’d just swallowed, putting down his fork to stare wide-eyed at the baker. “God, no!” he said. “I swear to you, Dean would never do that, especially to Cas.”

Gabriel sighed, suddenly feeling not so hungry. “Okay.”

“Gabriel,” Sam started, reaching out a hand to put atop of the other mans. “I promise, Dean would never do anything that Castiel doesn’t want to… or you for that fact.”

Gabriel grinned, emitting a small laugh. “I know, Sam.” He said, turning his hand around to entwine their fingers. “Can’t help but worry.”

Sam smiled reassuringly, feeling his cheeks start to warm up at the fact that Gabriel was holding his hand. The only small intimate thing they’d done since a week ago was the kiss on the cheek, and that was enough to make Sam feel like a school boy with a crush again. But this, this was staining his cheeks red and making his heart skip a beat every time he felt Gabriel’s thumb rub along the back of his hand. The baker didn’t seem to notice, and carried on with the soft touches as if it was a regular thing.

“Hey, Sam.” Gabriel suddenly said as he tore his gaze away from his brother to look at the paramedic. “Are you free tonight?”

Sam looked at Gabriel in confusion but nodded. “Yeah, I finish work at six, why?”

“We still haven’t gone on that date.”

Sam grinned. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

In the meantime Dean was enjoying his piece of apple pie that Castiel had just grabbed for him, his third one since an hour ago. He really couldn’t help it, especially when Castiel was the one who made it and looked so pleased when he ate it.

“Seriously Cas,” Dean said through a mouthful of pie. “This pie is so good.”

Castiel smiled gratefully, scribbling down a note in the book in front of him. ‘ _I could make you one to go home with if you’d like?’_

Dean put his fork down and shook his head. “No, no, it’s fine Cas, you don’t have to do that.”

Castiel frowned, making Dean feel guilty for even saying it. ‘ _Please, I would like to.’_

Dean smiled, Castiel was doing the puppy dog eyes thing again, he’d widen his blue eyes and tilt his head a little to the right and that was it for Dean. The older Winchester took the notebook from him and started to write his own message, sliding it across the table to sit in front of Castiel.

‘ _I would love that, Cas. Thank you.’_

Castiel smiled brightly.

Sam had to leave for work not long after, Dean joining him to go and work on his car that had problems with the radiator. Gabriel and Sam had set up their date for the evening, deciding to go for food and whatever else came after, while Castiel had prepared Dean a freshly baked pie and promised to deliver it to him once it was cooked.

As five o’clock came around it was time for the bakery to close up. It didn’t take the two brothers long to sort out the money and pack up the fresh food, and by the time the clock hit six Gabriel had to practically hurry them both out of the building. Driving home almost had Gabriel on edge, from the constant red lights to the amount of people actually using the zebra crossings for a change, it was reaching half six by the time they actually pulled up to the driveway.

Gabriel sprinted up to the front door and made it up the stairs quicker than humanly possible. Castiel sauntered into the house behind him and made himself comfortable on the sofa, making himself comfy for what he knew was to come. And what was to come was Gabriel jogging down the stairs after his shower with his trouser zip open, shirt half buttoned up and one sock on the left foot, while he tried and failed to dry his hair with the towel in his hands. After about five minutes of tripping over his own feet Gabriel stood in front of Castiel and basically started freaking out.

Questions spewed out of his mouth and had Castiel trying not to laugh at Gabriel’s nervous stammering, since Gabriel was not the nervous type in the slightest. He asked if his hair looked too much like a forty year old, or if his shoes matched his shirt, or if he still stunk like pastry and sugar and every other sweet thing he could name. Castiel just rolled his eyes as he leant over the sofa to grab his notebook and pen.

 _You really like Sam don’t you?_ He wrote, and passed it over to his older brother.

“Shut up.” Gabriel mumbled, chucking on his bottle green jacket.

Castiel only smiled, he wasn’t going to mention the fact that Gabriel had actually blushed when he’d read the note. When the clock hit seven Gabriel had his face plastered against the front window looking out for a silver car, his excitement getting the better of him. Sam’s car stopped outside minutes later and the man himself made his way up the path towards their house. Gabriel was out the front door before Sam could even reach the first step up onto the porch, and with a farewell to Castiel Gabriel was dragging Sam back to the car, way too thrilled to be slow about things.

“You seem chirpy this evening.” Sam chuckled as he pulled the car out into the road.

“Of course,” Gabriel answered. “I’m going on a date with the hottest paramedic in town.”

Sam laughed softly, putting the car to a stop at a red light. The youngest Winchester turned to Gabriel and gave him a once over, noticing the way his blondish brown hair waved to the side and how his golden eyes glowed against the streetlights. “You look really beautiful.”

Gabriel snapped out of his daydream to look at Sam, finding nothing but seriousness in his face. “You don’t have to say that.”

“I mean it.” Sam said, taking a hold of the other man’s hand. “You do look really beautiful.”

Gabriel held onto Sam’s hand and stared at their laced fingers, not saying a word instead smiling a little. Sam didn’t get the chance to ask what was wrong because the lights turned green, putting his attention back on the road.

They drove into town and decided on Ash’s diner for their late dinner, both agreeing that although Ash’s décor for the place was terribly circus like, the food made up for it entirely. As they sat down next to the window Gabriel ordered his gigantic sandwich with fries and a strawberry milkshake, and got a bit of a shock when Sam decided on a beef burger with wedges and a glass of coke on the side. The paramedic had just shrugged and said he wanted to do something different for the night. Gabriel didn’t ask questions after that.

Once their food hit the table they dived in and started up a conversation. Gabriel wanted to know all about Sam and asked one question after the other, Sam chuckling at the man when he started asking silly things like what colour underwear he was wearing. Sam answered him of course, and got a laugh out of the smaller man.

It soon got serious when Sam talked about his parents, remembering how they’d died and what life had been like without them. Gabriel had held his hand through it, glad that Sam put a smile back on his face when he’d started talking about his uncle Bobby and Aunt Ellen who’d treated Dean and himself like their sons. The paramedic answered Gabriel’s question about his job, telling him of his time at University and the funny shenanigans during his practice at the hospital. He even told Gabriel about the time he set Kevin’s trousers on fire by accidentally pushing him into an old ladies’ fireplace when on call, swearing that he hadn’t meant to get up so fast off the floor and bump him with his elbow. Gabriel was in stitches from laughing so much.

After Sam had gone on about his times at work, he soon realised he didn’t know much about Gabriel at all. Never had he told him anything about his life, from his family to his days at school, so he wanted to find out more about the candy man sitting in front of him. Sam asked about his family first, and only got a shrug before Gabriel mentioned the fact that his father was a deadbeat dad with religious problems, and two brothers who hated him for leaving home while a third brother was a bit of a psychopath who’d one time almost killed him. Sam gawped, having no idea what to say to that except he definitely didn’t want to meet the parents.

Gabriel had just laughed. “Christmas dinners were interesting.” He’d said.

Afterwards Sam didn’t want to bother Gabriel with any more questions encase he felt uncomfortable, thinking that maybe Gabriel had made the move to the small town in Kansas for family reasons.

Later that night, after their food had settled in their tummies, and Gabriel had made sure to get a free balloon from the diner, the two got back in the car and Sam drove them through the town so that Gabriel could pick their next location. It came to no surprise at all to Sam when Gabriel practically shrieked in delight when they drove for over half an hour to the end of the beach and came across a fun fair, it reached across the pier right up to the edge of the car park, lighting up the sky with its thousands of colourful illuminations and flashing lights.

Sam was running hand in hand with Gabriel towards the entrance once they’d parked nearby, both getting excited as their eyes landed on the Ferris wheel, and the baker shooting straight towards the candy floss stall once he’d seen it at the corner of his eye. The minute they’d both (after some persuasion on Gabriel’s side) had gotten their sticks of sugary pink fluff, they headed for the lit up Ferris wheel that stood out like a giant amongst all the other smaller rides. Gabriel was like a kid at a toy store, pointing at the pretty lights of Helwr Village in the far distance, bouncing in his seat to try and wing the carriage back and forth, and once the cart had reached the top of the wheel he challenged Sam to who could shout the word ‘boogies’ the loudest. Gabriel had won of course.

Sam would have said that was the best part of their date after all the laughing and joking they’d had on the ride. But then they’d spotted the merry-go-round with stunningly detailed horses and had hopped on board, sharing the same horse with Gabriel at the front the two burst out into song. Instead of strange looks from the children and their parents on the ride they’d gotten a few laughs out of them, Gabriel obviously great with kids as he got three of them to join in on his Disney sing-along. They’d had a go of the fun house, although Sam’s height had him almost falling face first through the spinning wheel. Sam had begged to go on the ghost train, even though Gabriel thought they were terribly outdated and had decided to scare Sam himself by bribing the ticket boy to let him lend a Halloween mask. There were the bumper cars that Sam had to squeeze himself into, and Gabriel couldn’t be trusted not to sneak up behind him and crash full speed into his car.

The last thing they did was walk around the game stalls. First they had a go at the darts, both losing terribly and gaining nothing but a cut finger and a wooden stall full of holes. Next they tried the basketball nets, Gabriel having to get a few lessons from Sam on how to throw the ball straight instead of at the roof. Gabriel surprised Sam at the coconut toss by bringing down every single one, the paramedic just stood there with his mouth gawping like a fish and grinned when the baker handed him a small stuffed toy moose.

“Thought you might like it.” He’d said, and Sam promised to win him something too. And win Gabriel something he did.

At the last stall they had to shoot at a stack of cans sitting on a wall, each one standing alone in a row. Gabriel snorted, claiming they were all probably glued down and noticed the stall owner look away guiltily. But that didn’t stop Sam from being determined to kick some ass with the fake gun, and win Gabriel a giant cuddly toy that was hanging from the stall walls. That’s exactly what he did, from his lessons on hunting growing up with Bobby he knew how to handle one, and one by one he shot down the cans like a professional. The stall owner stared in amazement, and Gabriel laughed in amusement as Sam handed him a large, orange teddy bear.

“I shall name him Ted!” Gabriel declared.

They left the fair around half eleven, close to the closing time. Black clouds had started drifting slowly towards them but held off as they made their way out. Gabriel pulled Sam along by their intertwined hands, tucking the orange teddy bear under his arm. They laughed as Gabriel almost tumbled over a pothole and Sam falling right into it, but they carried on walking towards the car with Gabriel in the lead to get out of the cold. By the time they’d crossed the road and gotten to the car, Gabriel was shivering from the night air enveloping him in freezing cold wind. The baker shivered, feeling goose pimples run along his arms.

Sam noticed and couldn’t help but want to wrap his arms around the smaller man. The young Winchester threw all worry to the wind and turned Gabriel around on the spot, the candy man stared up at Sam in surprise as he pushed him slowly to lean back against the side of the car. Then Sam was crushing him in a tight hug his arms wrapping around Gabriel’s waist, he almost had to bend his knees to be able to embrace the smaller man. Gabriel chuckled softly at the height difference, and made it easy by getting up on his tiptoes and winding his arms around the taller man’s shoulders.

Sam held Gabriel close, so close that he could smell the shampoo that the other man must have used that evening. Sam smiled to himself for thinking of such soppy stuff, and imagined Dean making fun of him for sounding just like a character from a romance novel. He didn’t care, he’d had the best night of his life and had spent it with the man who he’d fallen for in less than a month. Gabriel had made him laugh more than he thought he could after his parent’s death, and that made it clear to him that the man who had the biggest sweet tooth in the world was the one for him. Sam only hoped Gabriel thought the same.

“Hey Samsquatch,” Gabriel whispered into his ear. “How about you stop thinking and kiss me instead?”

Sam smiled into Gabriel’s shoulder, pulling back slightly to come face to face with the man. Gabriel grinned mischievously up at him before he moved his hand into Sam’s hair and pulled his head forward, their lips meeting in the middle. Sam sighed as their lips connected, pulling Gabriel closer to his body if it were possible. It started off slow and gentle, both taking their time to savour the feeling of each other’s touch, when suddenly the kiss deepened, turning from a soft touch to tongues and teeth, Sam having to brace his hands on the car to stop himself from falling onto the smaller man. Gabriel moaned softly as he felt Sam press his body against his.

Neither of them could stop themselves. The baker could feel his blood boiling as Sam bit his bottom lip, his whole body suddenly became hot and he could feel something in his chest. Gabriel hadn’t felt it so strongly before, but he knew what it was he was sensing deep inside him. Sam was driving him insane and out of his own control just from a kiss, and when the Winchester grinded up against him there was a sharp spark inside Gabriel that made him gasp in shock.                        

“Shit!” Gabriel cursed, pushing Sam away just slightly.

“Sorry!” Sam apologised, suddenly feeling like an idiot for going too far. “I’m so sorry! That was way too far over the line, I’m so so so-”

“Sam,” Gabriel chuckled, pushing a strand of hair behind the tall man’s ear. “It’s not that, trust me. That was amazing.” He said breathlessly, thinking of how he could avoid telling Sam just what had happened during their kiss. “It’s just… I was surprised that’s all.”

Sam blushed, ducking his head shyly. “Sorry, I’ve never done that before.” He admitted.

“Don’t be sorry, you idiot.” Gabriel smiled brightly. “Come on, I’m freezing my ass off out here.”

Sam couldn’t get a word in before Gabriel was pushing past him and opening the passenger door, Sam laughed when Gabriel pushed open the driver’s side door and yelled, “Get in handsome, you need to get me home by midnight for that doorstep kiss.”

Of course Sam hoped that doorstep kiss wasn’t just a joke.

It wasn’t quite midnight when Sam pulled up to Gabriel’s home. Like Gabriel had promised Sam on the drive home he let him take the baker to the front door, standing under the porch light Gabriel fiddled with his front door key and after some time got the door unlocked.

“Well,” Gabriel said, turning to Sam with a smile. “Tonight was probably the best night ever.”

“I agree.” Sam smiled, being bold enough to step forward and take a hold of Gabriel’s free hand. “Thank you, I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.”

“No need to thank me, kiddo.” Gabriel grinned before putting his teddy down on the floor and sliding into Sam’s personal space. “Now, how about that doorstep kiss.”

Sam couldn’t say no to that, especially not when Gabriel’s hands snaked their way around his waist and yanked him forward against him. The baker’s hands somehow found their way inside his shirt and tickled his back, they were so cold they made him shiver, until Gabriel got so close that he forgot to even breathe. Then Gabriel was kissing him, it wasn’t anything like before when they’d both lost complete control, instead the smaller man kissed him unhurriedly as if Sam would break under the pressure.

Sam could taste the chocolate that Gabriel had eaten in the car against his lips, the feel of his fingertips against his bare skin stroking gently up and down on his waist. Sam moved his hands up the smaller man’s arms and stopped at his neck, tangling his fingers through his blond brown hair to bring their lips closer together.

All of a sudden Sam could feel something in his chest, he had no idea if it was because of the kiss or if he was actually experiencing some kind of heart problem. It was like his chest was on fire and being tickled with something sharp, when Gabriel’s hands rested against his skin it felt like they were almost hot enough to burn him. The strange feeling abruptly vanished when Gabriel pulled back from the kiss. Sam stared down at the baker with a smile spreading across his lips, he had no idea what had just happened but he knew that it had felt amazing, and if Gabriel did that to him every time they kissed then he wanted to kiss Gabriel as much as possible.

“That,” Sam whispered against Gabriel’s lips. “Was incredible.”

The smaller man smiled brightly, hugging Sam tight. “It really was, wasn’t it?”

The couple stayed that way for what seemed like forever. Rain started pouring from the sky, the cold air reached them and had them both shivering even as they held onto each other. Gabriel had to force himself to step away from the youngest Winchester, promising that he’d see him the next day, knowing that Sam would be at his bakery. Sam reluctantly let go of their embrace, and leaning down to give Gabriel a quick peck on the lips he ran back to his car, hardly keeping himself dry.

Gabriel watched through the misty rain fall as Sam drove out into the road, beeping the car horn as he drove off. The baker sighed loudly to himself before picking up his teddy bear and lazily fell into the house, a blanket of warmth enveloping him as he stepped inside and shut the door. He slipped off his shoes and shrugged off his jacket before popping Ted down on the bottom step of the staircase, making his way into the kitchen to make himself a hot drink, since he was frozen from the inside out.

What he wasn’t expecting was for Castiel to still be awake, sitting on the stool by the counter and munching on a packet of mini cookies while he animatedly texted on his mobile phone. Gabriel chuckled softly, he knew exactly who his little brother was talking to at this time of the night.

“Evening.” Gabriel greeted, earning a slight jump from Castiel who was in his own world.

The youngest of the two smiled up at his brother, reaching over to retrieve his notepad that was sitting on the seat beside him, Castiel scribbled down a quick note in his messiest writing. Gabriel actually had a hard time reading it for a change, but chortled when he realised what Castiel was asking.

 _Did you kiss???_ It read.

Gabriel just put the pad down in front of his brother, and with the brightest smile on his face he wrote a great, fat, capital lettered yes. Castiel’s blue eyes widened, a grin splitting his face as he leapt off his stool and gave Gabriel the biggest hug he’d ever given him since he’d got there. Obviously he was more than chuffed for his brother, in fact he ran over to the kettle and got out the hot chocolate, knowing that Gabriel was probably in there for one anyway. He had a thing for drinking the stuff when in a good mood.

Gabriel just chuckled as his brother got out their matching superhero mugs, noticing how Castiel put at least three spoonful’s of sugar in his mug, he was getting used to Gabriel’s bad sugary habits at least. Or he was just letting him get away with it this time, since he’d stricken it lucky that night. When the kettle was put on to boil Castiel turned to Gabriel with his full attention, pushing him towards the empty stool by the counter and making him sit down, and with his just as messy handwriting he wrote in his notepad.

_Tell me everything!!!_

That’s just what Gabriel did for the next half hour or so. He’d started off with their time at the diner, sharing a few funny stories that Sam had told him about his time at University, making Castiel laugh at the way some people could be. He really wanted to meet this Kevin guy who seemed to be the clumsiest person he’d ever heard of. Once their hot chocolates were made Gabriel carried on with his story, moving on to their drive down the beach road, retelling the memory of how he’d gotten so excited about seeing the flashing lights of the fair and basically running towards it as they got out of the car.

Castiel could see it in Gabriel’s expression that Sam had become someone very special to him, especially when he’d unnoticeably talk about how Sam was kind, how Sam liked to hold his hand, how Sam would complement him every chance he got, how Sam was the greatest human being alive. That made Castiel smile behind his mug, he’d never seen his brother so happy before, never seen him let loose and just enjoy himself for a change. For that he as grateful, finally things were looking good for his older brother, and he deserved it more than anyone else he knew.

“That’s when we kissed.” Gabriel smirked, putting his mug down on the worktop. “And boy did we kiss.”

Castiel raised an eyebrow in question. “I felt it, Castiel.” Gabriel said, looking his brother in the eye and willing him to know what he was going on about. “I felt _the_ feeling.”

Gabriel could almost hear the clock ticking away in Castiel’s head. It was kind of hilarious watching his expression change from confusion, over to thinking hard about it, to realisation, then into complete and utter surprise. Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh a little.

Castiel dived for his notebook, writing in it even quicker than he had previously. He shoved it under Gabriel’s nose. _How did you feel it with Sam? It’s impossible._ He wrote.

Gabriel sighed with a shrug. “I have no idea Castiel.” He answered truthfully. “But whatever it means, I sure as hell don’t care.”

Castiel nodded in understanding, carefully he wrote down the next part. _What if **they** find out your falling for a ‘you know what’?_

Gabriel sighed softly, rubbing his fingers along the side of his mug in frustration. “I’d like to see them try and take this away from me.”

Castiel didn’t bring up the matter after that. Instead they both finished up their hot chocolate, deciding it was getting very late and retreated to their bedrooms. Gabriel dropped off into dream world as soon as his head hit the pillow, but Castiel got into his bed in the next room and sat up against the wall, his phone beeping in his hand. It was a text from Dean.

_‘Sam’s totally sounding like a chick right now, it’s quite gross’_

Castiel grinned and typed back. _‘Gabriel was the same. I even had gory details about hand holding.’_

_‘Sickening I tell you. Sam even mentioned how he felt all tingly and his heart beating fast when they kissed. I’m gonna have to keep him away from all those chick flicks!’_

Castiel laughed quietly at that. ‘ _You’re not going to leave him alone about all that are you?’_

_‘Hell no! He’s such a girl and he needs to know it.’_

Castiel smiled while shaking his head, poor Sam, he definitely wouldn’t hear the end of it. Then again, he was probably so happy that Dean taking the mick out of him wouldn’t be too bad. Dean and Castiel carried on talking for a little while longer, and when the streets became quiet and their eyes became heavy the two said their goodnight and fell straight to sleep.


	6. The waiter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Castiel spend the day together, but they're night ends in a way nobody could have predicted...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for a short chapter! But drama has began!
> 
> I will be honest.. I can't update often because of my work (and my Hobbit fanfic too), but I'll try my best to update as often as I can :) thanks for reading guys, really appreciate it

Since Gabriel and Sam’s first date they’d gone out on their second only days later. Gabriel having found out that there was an ice hockey stadium an hour away from the town, and also realising Sam had a bit of an interest for it, surprised the paramedic with some tickets to watch Kansas play against Pennsylvania. Luckily Kansas had kicked some butt at the game, which started the night on a good note. The two had then gone out for food in a bar across the street, followed by a movie at Sam’s house since Dean was working nights. Like their last date the night had ended with a kiss, but unlike their first date they’d kissed a little more than just twice.

That night Sam had asked Gabriel if he was his boyfriend now. It felt weird to be called that, Gabriel had never actually been in a proper relationship before, but this was Sam and he meant more to Gabriel than anything else in the world, well besides his own brother. Therefore Gabriel had said yes, he was Sam’s boyfriend. They’d been on two dates, kissed more than enough times, and had developed feelings for each other in the course of less than a month. They could definitely say that they were officially boyfriends.

So Gabriel had a tall, gorgeous, hazel eyed boyfriend who had one hell of a handsome smile. Gabriel could live with that. Every time he thought about it he’d catch himself smiling like a silly girl with a crush, and he’d instantly roll his eyes and make himself concentrate on something else besides drooling over what he thought Sam would look like without clothes on. In Gabriel’s head it wasn’t a bad sight. Not at all. Gabriel was at the moment in time thinking just that, and if Sam had a six pack because he’d seen Sam’s arms and boy were they big. But before he could even think about what was below the six pack he felt a sharp whack at the back of his head.

“Ouch!” Gabriel shrieked, twisting around to see his brother standing there looking slightly pale. “Did you see a ghost or something, because you my little brother look like the inside of a sack of flour?”

Castiel frowned, sprinting over to shove his phone in Gabriel’s face. Gabriel waved his arms around frantically to get Castiel to back up, and snatched the phone to read what was on the device, and he laughed when he read what was on it. A simple text message off Dean, and he was straight out asking Castiel to go out with him.

“Aww.” Gabriel cooed. “Has my little brother got a date?”

Castiel picked up the closest piece of candy, ready to throw. “Okay, okay.” Gabriel passed him his phone. “Calm down, princess. What’s so bad about this?”

Castiel sighed quietly, without giving Gabriel another chance to speak he grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt and yanked, pulling him along into the kitchen where his notebook was. Gabriel went along with him and waited patiently while Castiel wrote something down in his book, it felt like he was writing an essay by the amount of time it took for him to hand Gabriel the piece of paper he ripped out.

_I can’t go out with him! I’ve never spent more than a couple of hours with Dean, how am I supposed to act? I’ve not spent an entire day with anyone besides you before. I’m too scared, I’ll mess up. I don’t want Dean to hate me._

Gabriel suddenly felt bad for his brother, especially when he strained his feet into the main room and slouched down in one of the chairs in defeat. The baker made his way over to Castiel, putting the notebook down gently on the table, and sitting down without saying a word. He knew Castiel hadn’t been in a person’s presence for too long before, and it must have been a scary thing to be asked to spend the day with one, even if it was Dean. Castiel was different, he didn’t know how to be like other people. Gabriel understood exactly where his brother was coming from, because once upon a time he’d been precisely in the same position.

“Castiel,” Gabriel began, putting his hand on his brother’s shoulder for reassurance. “I know how scared you are, trust me, I was you once. But you’ve got to get out there and try, you know Dean won’t judge you, hell he’ll probably just think you’re being cute or something.”

Castiel smiled at that, Dean had said that a few times about strange little things Castiel had done. One time he’d picked up a mobile phone and couldn’t figure out where the beeping was coming from, he’d stared at it in wonderment and tried banging it on the worktop to shut it up. Dean had laughed and called him cute, before showing him that the noise was coming from the alarm on the oven, telling them that the cakes were ready.

“Don’t shy away from this chance Castiel.” Gabriel said. “You like Dean, I know you do. If you want to fit in down here you need to learn to be like everyone else, remember?”

Castiel exhaled deeply, fiddling with his fingers in his lap. After a short while Castiel just nodded, and wrote down one simple word; _Okay._

“Okay?” Gabriel furrowed his brows. “You’ll spend the day with him then?”

Castiel nodded again, looking even more petrified than he did five minutes ago. Gabriel couldn’t help but smile at his poor brother, who knows how he’d react if Dean actually made a move on him. Thinking about it, Gabriel might just chuck him a text and threaten him not to, it would just be the right thing to do since he’s a big brother after all.

About an hour after Castiel’s breakdown, Gabriel was up and about getting ready for work. He threw on his black trousers and white shirt, picking up his blue apron off the kitchen table and swinging a bag over his shoulders. Sam would arrive soon, since he was on his way to work in Dean’s car he was giving the baker a lift. Sam was lucky Dean was in a good mood to even lend him his so called ‘baby’.

Minutes before Sam would be there, Gabriel made his way into the living room to wait for the beeping outside with two pieces of toast in his hand, and came across his brother sitting by himself on the sofa, staring off into space. Gabriel rolled his eyes, typically Castiel was probably having one of those moments in his head again, arguing with himself about whether it was a good thing to put tomato sauce on cereal or not. He’d done that once not long ago, not knowing why other people had given him the crazy look.

“Stop thinking.” Gabriel warned, but with a light tone in his voice.

Castiel glared at his big brother, going back to staring at the small dot on the ceiling. Gabriel snorted, maybe he should just leave Castiel to wander around in his mind palace. That he did, because when Sam had driven to the house and sounded off the car horn, Gabriel was out of the house in a flash, leaving Castiel to wave his goodbye and keep his eyes on the same dot that didn’t even exist on the ceiling.

Castiel had so many things going on in his head. For one thing, what was one to wear when going out with a good looking guy? Was he supposed to dress nice? He didn’t even know where they were going. Heck, he didn’t even know if it was even a date. It probably wasn’t since Dean hadn’t even mentioned the word date. But to Castiel, this was close enough to be one, and he was more than terrified at the prospect of going out with a man that he kind of liked. The only time he’d gone out with Dean was to pick up something to eat for the group, and that was across the road from the bakery.

Castiel was suddenly feeling a lot hotter than a minute ago. He wondered whether Gabriel had turned the heating on, or if he was just getting a little too overwhelmed by the situation. Looking at the clock on the fireplace Castiel swallowed hard, it was half an hour until he had to meet up with Dean. All those people he’d have to walk past getting into town, he hated it, being among them without a voice to converse with them when they greeted him. It made him feel useless. A child had approached him one time asking if he’d seen his mammy, and all Castiel could do was shrug, he’d completely freaked out and basically ran away to leave the kid by himself. He really didn’t know how to fit in in this world.

Castiel’s thoughts were interrupted not long after as his phone made a loud bleeping sound in his pocket. Twitchily reaching into his pocket to get it, Castiel almost dropped it on the floor where his last cup of tea was standing. He sighed tiredly, wishing he’d just calm down and go with the flow. His nervousness wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon however, because the text was from Dean, which he shouldn’t have been surprised about since only three people had his number.

_Hey! I’m at the corner shop now, see you soon Cas!_

Castiel smiled at the nickname, still not used to the fact that Dean called him that. After thinking about all the other things Dean did to make him smile, Castiel realised he should probably be making his way into town. After picking up some of his money that he kept in his bedside drawer, and remembering to stuff his phone into his pocket, Castiel took a deep breath and opened the front door, stepping out into the open air and into the big, busy world.

\----------

Dean was pacing. A lot. Dean hated it when he started pacing, because when he paced he knew that he was nervous, and he had no idea why he was nervous at that minute. He was only going to spend the day with Castiel, it wasn’t even a date. Well, at least he thought it wasn’t a date. Dean hadn’t asked Castiel on a date, he’d just asked if he could take him out for the day, that wasn’t asking him on a date was it? Dean sighed, he really had to work on his communication.

The fireman hadn’t been this anxious since he’d taken Sam to his collage exam results, even then he wasn’t as bad as he was today, he’d known Sam was a genius and he would pass all his tests. Dean wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that spending more than a couple of hours with Castiel might make him think more, as in think more about how he felt about the other man. Dean had admitted a long time ago to himself that yes, yes he may have a teeny-weeny bit of a thing for the quiet, kind hearted, blue eyed man. But it was no more than that, no way, he didn’t do relationships, he wasn’t the type to fall in love and get married and have babies in a fancy two storey house in the suburbs.

Castiel looked like the kind of guy who was. That was it, Dean couldn’t imagine Castiel being with any other guy and that made him real mad to even think about it, he got so jealous when Castiel would go near any of the guy customers he’d deal with at the bakery. Which then made him think maybe he should think about getting married and having babies and live in a posh house in the suburbs. It wouldn’t hurt, and then Castiel would be his and he wouldn’t have to endure the green monster every time Castiel was around other men. Dean snorted, maybe he was thinking too much even now.

By the time Dean could slap himself mentally for going off on a tangent in his own head, Castiel was walking towards him. Dean grinned instantly, noting how stunning Castiel looked in his black jeans and dark blue, long sleeve button down that made his eyes stand out immensely. God, Dean loved his eyes.

“Cas!” Dean greeted him, going in for a hug.

Castiel was caught by surprise by the embrace, but hugged back anyway, taking in the strong smell of Dean’s aftershave. The taller man pulled back and gave him a big smile, hand still lingering on Castiel’s arm. “Ready to go?”

Castiel nodded, still having no clue where they were off to. But trusting Dean he let the man lead him down the street, talking about how Sam had woken up at stupid o’clock that morning and how the toaster had decided to burn every piece of toast he’d tried to make. Castiel liked to listen to Dean talk, he would sit down and let him talk away quite often, and it was always about something different from the latest film that was out in the cinema to the newest model of cars that had turned up at the town’s garage.

Dean was talking about how it was supposed to be raining by the end of the day, when the two of them turned a corner and came upon one of the biggest buildings Castiel had seen in the small village. He’d never come across it before, but its architecture was unbelievably enchanting. As they neared it Castiel noticed the carvings in the grey stone of fairy-tale creatures, of the pillars alongside the big, old wooden doors at the entrance, and the giant windows lining each side of the building. It was by far the finest building he’d seen in the town.

Dean noticed Castiel’s face light up as his eyes landed on the structure, staring up at it in awe. Dean smiled, he had an incline that the other man would take an interest in it, and maybe even love the inside of it even more. So Dean led him indoors through the wide door, where they came to a tiny hallway that had posters hanging on the walls and cardboard cut-outs of books and movies. When Dean opened another wooden door he stepped inside and had Castiel follow. Dean inevitably laughed as Castiel’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets, his mouth hanging open in astonishment at what he saw.

They were standing at the entrance to a library. The town’s oldest building, and most loved. It wasn’t the biggest library in the world, but it was large enough to have two floors full of tall shelves stacked with all sorts of books. On the ground floor there were rows upon rows of them leading far down to the back of the building, comfortable chairs scattered around in little corners or hiding spaces so people could feel comfortable while reading in silence. Upstairs there was a kid’s corner at the back, along with the science fiction and movie books nearby. It was such an old building that the lights couldn’t get any brighter than a dull glow since the electricity cables wouldn’t allow it, and the wallpaper looked like it was from the war times, but it had character, and that’s what made Castiel fall in love with it at first glance.

Dean knew that Castiel loved books, he always saw him reading one when he’d walk into the bakery. He remembered the look on Castiel’s face when Gabriel had bought him a new one, or when he’d realised he’d forgotten to bring one to work. Castiel had told him books were his favourite things, because books made you use your imagination, and using your imagination was the best feeling in the world. So Dean had found Castiel the best place to be for that.

“I’m guessing you like it, huh?” Dean asked with a smile.

Castiel nodded with a grin, grabbing a hold of Dean and hugging him tightly. Dean gasped as he was hit with an arm full of Castiel, laughing slightly as Castiel almost crushed him from pure delight. The man leaped back as if he were suddenly set on fire, and blushed furiously as he’d realised what he’d done, making Dean laugh even more.

“It’s fine Cas, I’m sure everyone hugs people when they’re happy.” He said.

Castiel smiled and ducked his head, feeling his cheeks warm up further. “Come on,” Dean began, taking a hold of Castiel’s sleeve and tugging on it. “Let’s go find you some books and start reading.” He said. “Besides, I need to teach you about the greatest movies on earth, remember?”

Castiel grinned, he remembered, Dean had been appalled when he’d said he’d never seen a film called Batman. He didn’t mind at all that the rest of the day was spent sitting together, reading through books and discussing some superheroes called the Avengers.

\-----

It took precisely six hours, twenty one minutes and a few seconds for the pair to leave the library. Dean even got Castiel a library card and a few books to rent out, making Castiel smile brighter than ever before. Dean had never spent so long in a library before, but with Castiel as company it had been way better than his last visit to the old building.

Dean had finally taught him the world of Batman, explaining everything from his car to his cape, and using one of the books in the movie section to show as evidence on how cool the guy was. He showed him books on all the movies that Dean loved, and eventually ended up finding books on all the bands that Dean loved too. Dean swore he wanted to marry Castiel when he wrote in his notebook that he wanted to listen to a load of ACDC albums when they have the time.

At dinner time neither of them got hungry, instead got stuck in a bunch of books about classic cars and how they were made. Even then Castiel seemed interested and wrote down so many questions about cars that yeah, Dean totally wanted to marry the guy. Dean went off on one then, showing Castiel pictures of classic cars that he could only dream of wanting, explaining how they worked and how they were invented, even pleased to tell Castiel about the engineering side of things when he’d asked. The quiet man had even pointed out that the sixties cars were the nicest ones by far, which had Dean agreeing without a second thought.

Castiel had found a series of books that he’d taken interest in. Lord of the Rings was a big hit with him, so he’d decided to borrow the entire sequences of Tolkien, including a book on how the movies were made. He’d found some books on animals too, and had smiled at the cute pictures inside, wanting to take some home so that he could learn about different pets. Dean wondered if Castiel would end up having one by the time he’d finished with the first book, judging by the way he smiled every time a picture of a puppy ended up on the page.

So when they left the building Dean had a bag full of books on dogs and cats, while Castiel held onto his series of Tolkien. By the time the clock hit four they were both starving, their stomachs agreeing with them as they made their way to the diner. For once Dean hadn’t protested on how parched he was, instead he’d got distracted by all the books and Castiel, and for once he didn’t mind at all. Not one bit.

Dean decided on a table by the corner when they got to the diner, placing the books down gently on the seat he grabbed Castiel and himself a menu. “I’m gonna eat like a pig.” Dean said, patting his belly.

Castiel laughed inaudibly, scanning through the menu and picking out some food. It didn’t take them long to select what to eat, and eventually they had a bowl of fries to share between them, while Dean had a big, fat juicy cheeseburger and Castiel sticking with a plain beef burger topped with so much sauce that it leaked out. Dean ate a lot within minutes and sat there for hours to digest, his tummy feeling happy at finally being fed, as usual Castiel was taking tiny bites out of his food and made Dean wonder if Castiel ever did eat back home.

“Fancy some pie Cas?” Dean asked him not long after he’d finished off the bowl of fries. “I fancy some pie.”

Castiel shook his head, pointing down at the half eaten burger on his plate. “You really don’t like eating huh?” Dean said with a frown, hoping half a burger was enough to keep Castiel fit and healthy for the night.

Castiel took out his small notepad that was sitting in his pocket and wrote: _I don’t usually eat so much food at once._

“Ah,” Dean chuckled. “So, you’re another Sam.”

Castiel smiled toothily, shaking his head in protest. He most definitely wasn’t like Sam with his food habits, he wasn’t a fan of rabbit food as Dean had always called it. Dean grinned, waving over a waiter that was creepily eyeing them up on the other side of the diner.

“Think this guy wants to serve us?” Dean asked Castiel quietly. “He’s been staring at us for way too long.”

Castiel wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion. Dean was smiling politely at whoever was approaching them, tempted to ask him if he had something on his face, but didn’t get the chance to. The young waiter in red and white came up to them, his eyes were wide and his face pale, he looked kind of scared and for some reason that put Dean on edge. Next thing Dean knew was that the waiter was standing in front of them, and this time his gaze was stuck directly on Castiel.

Castiel could feel the man’s gaze on him as if it were putting a hole through him, so he looked up, and his eyes enlarged like two saucers when the young man came into his vision. By then Dean knew something was up, and what the waiter said next confused the hell out of him.

“Castiel.” The boy said. “I have found you.”

Castiel stared up in fright at the young man, obviously shocked to see him. “I could not sense your presence, your grace is week.” He said.

Dean gawped at the kid, what the hell was he talking about? Before Dean could ask, Castiel had unpredictably shot up out of his seat, leaving his books behind in the process, and ran out the door in a gust of wind.

“Castiel!” The young waiter shouted, and began to follow.

“Hey!” Dean grabbed the boy by the arm, spinning him around. “He obviously doesn’t want to see you, don’t you dare follow him.”

“But-,”

“No,” Dean warned, his voice threatening. “I don’t know who you are, but Castiel obviously doesn’t want to see you, so back off.”

“You don’t understand-,”

“I said, back of.”

“I-,”

Dean didn’t give the boy a chance to say anything, instead he grabbed the books left behind and ran out of the diner, shoving a twenty dollar note onto the counter for their food. Outside Castiel was running down the path way ahead of Dean, just a shadow under the streetlights, one that Dean had a hard time following with so many books tucked awkwardly under his arms.

“CAS!” Dean yelled, jogging quicker to keep up, hoping he was a bit faster than the smaller man. “CASTIEL!”

To his surprise the smaller man stopped running, spinning around on the spot to face Dean who had caught up, his breathing hard and fast. “Cas,” Dean whispered, putting down the books carefully. “Cas, what’s going on? Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

Castiel nodded slowly, his eyes darting around the area to make sure nobody was following. He lifted his arm and pointed in the direction that he was running, hoping that Dean would understand so that he didn’t have to retrieve his notepad. Dean looked to where he was pointing, noticing the rows of shops in the centre of town and understood.

“You were going to the bakery?” Dean asked.

Castiel nodded, looking more worried than Dean had ever seen him before. “Okay, let’s go.” Dean told him. “Gabriel will still be there? It’s past closing time.”

Castiel just nodded, and feeling frightened he clung onto Dean’s arm, who brought him in close against himself. By the time they started walking towards Gabriel’s bakery, the rain began to fall in light drops.

\-----

“Gabriel, get your hands off my butt.”

Gabriel chuckled, moving around Sam to stack the rest of the shelves. “You’re no fun. Sex at work is awesome.”

Sam grinned, scribbling down something that was most probably important into his work book. “I told you, I want this to work between us, I’m not having sex with you until we’ve been going out at least a month.”

“Dean was right.” Gabriel said, turning to Sam with a smirk, who looked up at him in confusion. “You _are_ such a girl.”

“Hey!” Sam laughed loudly, throwing his pen at his boyfriend. “You suck.”

Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows and replied with, “And I’m good at it.”

Sam gawped, he should have known he’d get that kind of answer. Gabriel just laughed wholeheartedly, returning to topping up the sweet shelf, making sure that they were colour coordinated because apparently it looked better in Sam’s opinion.

All was silent until Gabriel said, “You know, you’d know just how good I suck if you’d just let me show you right?”

Sam almost choked on the glass of water he’d just put to his lips, slamming it down on the worktop to try and stop the water from going the wrong way. Gabriel grinned wickedly, sending Sam a cheeky wink before turning back to the candy.

That was it. Sam got up out of his seat and snuck over to the candy man. With one swift movement Sam reached out to grab Gabriel by the waist and spun him around, the smaller man went flying off the ladder with a loud shriek and was caught in Sam’s arms.

“You bastard!” Gabriel screeched, but laughed when Sam burst into his own laughter.

“Serves you right for saying such naughty things.” Sam said, a big grin plastering his face.

“Well,” Gabriel shrugged, wrapping his arms around Sam’s neck. “You’ve just got to stop tempting me with your big strong arms, otherwise I won’t be able to stop saying naughty things.”

Sam just chuckled, and bending down he placed a soft kiss on Gabriel’s lips. “Get back to work and don’t say a word.” He said quietly.

Gabriel snorted, pushing Sam back before climbing back up the ladder. “You wait until we have sex, I’m totally taking your ‘having sex in work’ virginity.”

Sam grinned brightly, sitting back down to carry on with his work. He was just about to come back with something just as quirky, when his eyes caught sight of something outside the shop window which made him do a double take.

“Is that Dean and Castiel?”

Gabriel was halfway through putting the strawberry flavoured lollipops onto the shelf when Sam’s question made him stop, he looked around and followed Sam’s gaze towards the front door. Sure enough there was his little brother and Dean getting wet from walking in the rainy weather, but something didn’t seem right, because Castiel was tucked into Dean’s arm like he was being protected and Castiel had a thing for letting people get that close that easily, and that caused Gabriel to leap off the ladder and walk towards the door.

When Gabriel opened it up for them he could see by Castiel’s look of fear that something bad had happened. His eyes were staring into nothingness and his breathing was out of control. Sam got up from his chair too when he noticed the same thing, sharing a look of worry with Dean as they came inside. Castiel instantly let go of Dean and flung himself into Gabriel’s arms, clinging onto him tight as if that would help him, and Gabriel suddenly had a bad feeling about this. Castiel never got afraid, unless it was one thing that Gabriel was sure wouldn’t haunt them again.

“Castiel.” Gabriel spoke softly, pushing Castiel back to look him in the eyes. “What is it?”

Castiel looked over at Dean, the Winchester sending him a small smile of comfort. So Castiel, with his shaking hands, reached into his pocket to pull out his notepad. The men followed him as Castiel walked towards the counter, needing something to lean on, and with a trembling hand he wrote down one word which made Gabriel drain of any colour. His worst fear coming true.

The word written on the paper meant nothing to Sam and Dean, who looked at it in puzzlement. Castiel shared a look with Gabriel, who touched his arm gently and ripped off his apron without a second thought, throwing it across the counter without a care as to where it landed.

“We have to go.” Gabriel said, grabbing his bag off the worktop. “Will you lock up for me please, Sam?”

“Gabriel?” Sam said in confusion. “What’s going on?”

“Please, just lock up.” He answered, grasping Castiel by his arm and pulling him towards the door. “We have to get home, now.”

“Wait!” Dean called as the two brothers rushed out the door.

Neither one of them paid any attention to the Winchesters as the door shut behind them, leaving Dean and Sam to stand there staring at their retreating backs, wondering what the hell had just happened.


End file.
